Blue Skies and Pure Gold
by Mother Of The Universe
Summary: What if Winry also committed human transmutation? Three children lost their parents and tried to bring them back using alchemy. The unsuccessful transmutation cost one his arm and leg, the another his entire body, and the third all movement and feeling in her hands. Now the three of them set out on a journey to get back what they lost, but is it possible? Rated T cause why not?
1. Prologue

**Another story. Wadda ya know! I'm sorry. I'm terrible. But I will get back to Afterstory soon! I just have no idea where I'm going with it at the current spot I am at. So it will have to wait.**

 **However, this one I've had this AU in my head for a while, and finally I've decided to write it!**

 **As I said in the description, this story is an AU where Winry also studied alchemy and decided to commit human transmutation along with Ed and Al. As I also said in the description, Winry looses movement in her hands. This story will be based off the manga, but, since, with the addition of Winry, the homunculi already have 5 sacrifices. (Well, three at the beginning of the story, since Al didn't have access to his gate yet due to the lack of memories, and the Homunculi didn't know about Izumi yet) This means that some major changes will be made somewhere after the stories beginning. Plus, we've got Winry there to give Ed a slap on the wrist whenever his temper nearly messes up an opportunity for them, so things will be different in that sense. Another addition to the story is the character Catherine Armstrong. She was already a character, but she had no relevance to the main plot whatsoever. In this story, however, she takes on a job as Winry's personal assistant; Winry basically doesn't have hands, so Catherine's job is to help Winry with task that require them. Her job will become more clear as time goes on.**

 **This story will be based off the manga, so therefore will take on manga format, with the manga chapters. Also, Ed is still the main character. Just making that clear. Also SPOILERS!**

 **Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist isn't mine. I'd like to think of some creative reason why I don't, but what do I say? I've ran out of idea's.**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Prologue

* * *

"You where reading those strange books in class again," Winry chastised. "You've got to pay attention,"

"Say's the girl who fell asleep in class _again_ ," Edward countered.

Three children walked home from school, past green fields and blue skys. Three children, the embodiment of innocence, thought that their future would be bright as gold. How wrong they where.

Two brothers, and their best friend, who had been together since the beginning. Two brothers who lost their mother, lived with their friend, and was taken care of by her grandmother. Their best friend wasn't without tragedy either. A year ago, she had lost both her parents to a war. But they got by. They still embodied innocence, they still walked past blue sky's, and they still thought their future gleamed gold.

"What were you reading about anyways?" Winry asked.

 _Human Transmutation..._

"It's a secrete," Alphonse responded pleasantly. After all, the two brothers couldn't have their friend ratting out on them to her grandmother.

"It's none of your business Winry," Edward snapped. He had always been the more aggressive of the two brothers.

"Aw, you guys are always keeping secretes!" Winry pouted.

Al ran up to catch up with his elder brother. "Bye Winry!" He shouted to his friend.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" She suddenly shouted. "Granny wanted me to tell you we're making stew tonight!"

Al pumped his fist into the air, "Yay, stew!"

Ed gave her a small wave without turning around. "Alright! We'll be there!"

Winry watched them as they left to go to their house. _I wonder what they keep reading about..._ She thought. She was about to turn and go back to her house, when she noticed something on the ground; a book on human alchemy. _It must've dropped out of their bag_. She thought. She then picked the book up, and began to run after him.

Meanwhile, Ed and Al hiked through the hills to their house. The two boys plotted and planned, because they had a goal to bring their dead mother back to life.

"Whoever invented stew was a genius!" Ed declared. "It's even got milk in it and it still taste good!"

"So _that_ makes it genius?" Al replied sarcastically.

"Someone decided to put milk in soup," Ed continued, ignoring his little brothers comment. "That's a leap of imagination; just the kind a scientist needs!"

"I guess that's right..."

"Of course it is! Just one leap, that's all it takes! Just one leap to find the secrete to a successful Human Transmutation!" Ed cheered.

"Human Transmutation!" A shocked voice suddenly said from behind them. They turned around to see Winry standing behind them. They where caught. "It's forbidden!" She snapped.

"Winry, what are you doing here?" Al asked cautiously.

"You where eavesdropping, weren't you!?" Ed snapped, growing angry.

"No, I just saw this on the ground!" Winry told them, referring to their lost book. "It dropped out of your bag, I just wanted to return it! I didn't mean to eavesdrop,"

Ed marched up to her, a scowl on his face, until the two of them where so close they nearly butted heads. "You pick-pocked it out of Al's bag, didn't you?" Ed snapped. "Just so you can listen into our secrete!" Winry had never seen Ed look more angry.

"No I didn't!" She snapped back.

"Brother, lay off," Al demanded. "When has Winry ever lied to us?"

 _Never_. "Fine. But if you tell Granny I'm gonna kick your ass!" Ed threatened.

"I'm not gonna tell Granny!" Winry yelled back. "You want to bring back your mom, right?"

"Yeah, and we're gonna succeed too!" Ed shouted. The two boys where about to walk away, when, after a long pause, Winry suddenly shouted a response back at them;

"Good! Because I want to bring my parents back too!"

Ed and Al turned around and took a look at her. She was completely serious. "Yeah," Ed assured her with a smile, "We'll bring your parents back after we bring back our mom,"

"No!" Winry shouted. "Teach me alchemy! I want to bring my parents back myself!"

"We don't need your help," Ed told her.

"I don't care. When my parents come back, I want to know it's because _I_ saved them," Winry demanded.

She stood glaring at them, her stair unwavering. Ed _really_ didn't want to deal with teaching the gearhead alchemy, but if it would keep her quiet...

"Fine," Ed grumbled. "Come on,"

"Yay!" Winry cheered, following her friends up the hill to get to their house.

"But you better take this seriously!" Ed demanded.

"I will. I'll put everything I have into bringing my parents back!" Winry promised.

"And you'll have to give up automail for alchemy," Ed informed her.

Winry stopped in her tracks.

"What?" She said sadly.

"Do you want this or not?" Ed demanded from her.

"Yes! I want this more than anything!" Winry assured him.

"Then you'll have to put everything into it. All your time, all your talent, all your effort has to be devoted to alchemy. It's the only way we're gonna be able to bring our parents back,"

Winry stood still, obviously thinking hard about it. Considering the risk. The sacrifice. The benefit. The benefit outweighed everything.

"Yes, I'll do it. I'll devote everything to Alchemy, and I will bring my mom and dad back to life!" She declared.

And that was the beginning of three friends journey. And the beginning of the worst mistake of their lives.

* * *

The transmutation had gone wrong. Horribly wrong. Winry felt blood pool around her arms. Ed couldn't feel his leg. Al was no where to be seen.

Ed screamed a blood curling scream. Winry quickly stood up. She had to grab him some bandages. She hoped that maybe Aunt Trisha would be able to help them as well.

"Mom... mom help me..." Ed begged. But when he looked into the center of the circle, he didn't see his mom; he saw a nightmare.

Ed screamed once again. Winry ran over to him, and turned to see what he saw. "Aunt Trisha?" She squeaked out in a fearful voice.

The creature in the center of the circle that was supposed to be Trisha reached out to them, gurgling and coughing up blood. It's limb suddenly went limp, and more blood spewed from it. Ed held onto his bleeding leg.

"This... this wasn't supposed to happen!" He cried.

Winry looked to the corner, seeing a pile of bandages. She ran over to grab them. "Hold on Ed! Don't bleed out on me yet!" She shouted, trying to keep calm. She heard her best friend throwing up. She finally got to the bandages. However, when she tried to grab them, she found her hands weren't moving.

"I can't grab them!" She shouted out, starting to panic. She had lost all feeling, all movement, in her hands, and she wouldn't be able to help her friend. He could bleed out and die. And then Alphonse...

"Alphonse... where's Alphonse?!" Ed cried in despair. He turned to see a pile of Al's empty clothing, laying in the dust.

"Alphonse... Winry... I'm sorry," Ed cried. "No, no, no, no, no!" Ed crawled over to the large suit of armor in the corner of the room. He tipped it over, and crawled to the inside of it's neck. He was loosing so much blood. But he could use that blood.

He drew a transmutation circle into the neck of the armor. "You won't take him too!" He shouted to seemingly no one. "He's my little brother! Give him back! Take my leg! Take my arm! Take my heart! Take anything you can have it!" Edward finished his transmutation circle, his only hope of saving his brother. "Just give him back! He's my little brother, he's all I have left!"

Edward clapped his hands together, and a gleam of light appeared between them. Winry watched from the sidelines as the light spread across the entire room, blinding her. She watched as Ed fell into a trance, his arm unraveling and disappearing.

Ed looked through the blinding white light to see a figure silhouetted with black in the distance. It smiled as an arm of flesh appeared on it's white arm. "Back for more, young alchemist?"

* * *

Three children thought that they would have a future of blue sky's and shining gold. Instead, because of the worst mistake they ever made, they where violently shoved down the path of pain and misery, whether they liked it or not.

* * *

 **And done! It feels good to be posing things again. I know it's been a few weeks since I last threw out a story.**

 **Anyways. It's heading to the end of the year, and I'm stuck in the middle of finals month. So my life currently sucks. But once summer comes, I hope I will be able to update this and my other shit more frequently. Cause currently, I'm working on Civil War, the Vigilante, Afterstory, Titan Slayer, Guns and Roses, and Kosupere, and now this. I'm not sure what I'm doing with myself.**

 **Well, leave a review. Tell me what you think. I want to know if this shit has potential. Because I think it's going somewhere, but I'm more interested in what you think.**

 **I think that's all for now.**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out.**


	2. Chapter 1

**So. It's been awhile. Well, I'm just terrible. But hey, take this in stride. This chapter I worked long and hard on. It was 47 pages. Why do I do this to myself?**

 **I officially live in California now, so that's a nice update. I wrote this chapter in the car over the corse of three days.**

 **I just drove across the fucking country. Bet not many other people can say they did that!**

 **Well, I guess we should just get down to business. This is an AU where Winry committed human transmutation and travels around with the Elric brothers, she lost all feeling and movement in her hands, and Catherine Armstrong is her hired assistance, because she can't do much without hands. Everything else is completely the same. It's based off the manga. Have fun.**

 **Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist is not mine. I am not genius or creative enough to make a story as amazing as that.**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Three Alchemist

* * *

Lior was a simple town with a simple weather pattern. It snowed in the winter, looked like a garden in the spring, an orange wasteland in the fall, and had heat that poured down in streams during the summer. In the cooler months, the newcomers would've stood out anyways, especially the one wearing a suit of armor. But their layers and coats would've made some form of sense in the cooler months.

In the middle of a particularly hot day in a Lior summer, the four newcomers simply looked ridiculous.

The Lior citizens always dressed for the weather. Boys and men ran around the streets in T-shirts and shorts, while woman and girls wore either the same thing or light summer dresses. The fabrics where thin, and shoes on everyone's feet where open toed sandals or flip-flops. The clothes the four newcomers where wearing didn't make sense.

The four of them consisted of two children, a young woman, and the suit of armor. The four of them all sat at an open food stand. The man who ran the food stand stared at them in curiosity, questions rolling in and out of his mind in rapid speeds.

"Would you guys like anything?" He asked the four of them.

"I'd like a glass of orange juice," Said one of the children, the boy. He couldn't have been older than twelve. Even then, he was short for a child even that age. He was wearing black leather pants, with black and red leather platform boots, who's soul purpose seemed that it was to give him extra hight. He wore both a black tank top, and a black sort of cardigan resembling item, and on top of all those layers was a blood-red, ankle-length coat, with a hood, and a strange black symbol on his back. It looked like a snake twisted around a cross, while a crown with wings floated above the contraption. His hair was long, gold, and messy, with the majority of it tied in a brade, while his choppy and uneven bangs simply hung around his face. A cowlick stood up straight in the middle of his bangs. His gold eyes and his dark, — but not quiet brown, – skin served to give him an exotic look. The shopkeep was quiet sure that he would never meet another human that looked quiet like this boy.

"Do you have any champaign?" Questioned the young woman. She was the most normal-looking member of the group, and not even she looked normal. She was on the shorter side, but still taller than the children, had attractive curves, and muscular arms. Her hair was a light platinum blonde, and her eyes where shiny blue. That, along with her pale skin, cemented her likeliness of being pure Amestrian. An uncommon race, but not an anomaly either. She was dressed in high fashion, her silk pink dress and fur coat looking glamorous, but impractical for the weather. She had been wearing a purple stewardess hat, but had the sense to at least take that off. And the shopkeep couldn't imagine how she walked in her jewel-adorn heels all day.

"Coming right up," He responded to the odd quartet. "Would you two like anything?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Said a young voice. The shopkeep had to do a double take to make sure it was _really_ the suit of armor who had just spoken. He sounded like a child! What the hell was he doing wearing a 7-foot suit of full armor. The child must have been abnormally large, but that raised the question as to why he would wear a _suit of armor_ of all things anyways?

"I'll just have water," Said the final member of the group; a girl that had to have been either fourteen or fifteen. Her hair was yellow. Not just blonde but yellow. And her eyes where the color of the clear summer sky. She must've had a pure Amestrian decent, though it seemed to have gotten mixed somewhere along the way. Her yellow hair was cut into a graduated bob, and her bangs where pinned back to the center of her head with an old clip. She wore a yellow field jacket, and tan cargo-pant style overalls, over a black crop-top. The jacket also had the strange cross embroided the right breast pocket. She also wore black combat boots, with green socks. She would've looked the most normal of them if it weren't for her strange accessory; a pair of black leather gloves with what looked to be white cords tracing across her fingers, spreading her hands into an unnaturally flat and stiff pose.

The shopkeep registered the strange groups ordered, and started to hand it out. He gave the girl her water first, and was taken aback when she asked for a straw, and then drank the liquid by leaning her head towards the straw instead of lifting the glass to her lips. He gave the woman her champaign, wondering why she would order the drink at this time of day. When he handed the small boy the orange juice (which he put a straw in, just in case) the boy added an extra request of mac and cheese. The shopkeep boiled the pasta, watching the minutes on the clock tick down, waiting for the daily broadcast.

The group talked about normal things. They chatted about how a woman named "Mrs. Hughes" cooked the best apple pie, and how her quash was only second to their mothers. The woman mentioned how cooking skills had been "passed through her family for generations," and how not even the "hired professional chefs" could cook a better pasta than her big brother. Their granny made the best stew, and the girl mentioned how her father made the best cookies. The small boy mentioned how he tricked the kid in armor into eating a mud pie made of actual mud once when they where kids.

Normal. Normal conversations, normal exchanges, normal laughs. Yet the boy in armor echoed every time he talked, and there were creaking noises that came from the small boy whenever he moved his right arm, and the girl's fingers didn't even twitch or move in the slightest. At least the only thing abnormal about the young woman was how she was obviously filthy rich, and seemed to have a champaign addiction, seeing as she had asked for a refill three times already.

The small boy greedily scarfed down his mac and cheese the moment the shopkeep placed the food in front of him. He had never seen anyone eat so quickly or aggressively.

The woman was on her sixth champaign refill, and the small boy had just finished his third serving of mac and cheese, and the girl had drank half her water, when it was time to turn the broadcast on.

Everyone in the town turned on their radio's. The broadcast blared through street speakers. This was the way it would be. Everyone would here the message. It was normal for Lior. But the shopkeep could tell that the group of newcomers where visibly creeped out by this action.

A mellow. deep voice of a grown man echoed through the town. He sounded calm, and loving, but not in the fatherly loving type of way; more in the creepy pedophile sort of way, the newcomers noticed.

" _Children of God who dwell on this Earth, there is no salvation without prayer and faith. The Sun God Leto will illuminate thy path. Behold! The Lord hath descended from His heavenly throne to save thee from all thy sins. For I am thy Father; emissary of the Sun God…"_

The radio continued to drum on with it's sermon, but the newcomers seemed to have heard all they needed to hear.

"A religious broadcast on the radio?" Questioned the boy in armor, his childlike voice still continuing to shock the shopkeep whenever the boy spoke.

"' _Emissary of the Sun God'_ " The small boy quoted. "What the heck is that?"

"And everyone tuned in to listen to this broadcast at the same time," Observed the girl. "That's a bit creepy,"

The groups tense contemplation was interrupted by the woman cheerily asking for more champaign.

"No, you had enough," The shopkeep refused her.

"But I'm paying you!" She whined.

"If the town gets troubled by a drunk lady I'm not gonna be blamed for it," The shopkeep replied stubbornly. "You guys already look crazy anyways, dressed like that in this heat. Are you guys street performers or something?"

The small boy spat out his drink, half in annoyance, half in laughter. "Seriously? Do we _look_ like street performers to you?"

"Well yeah, that's why I asked,"

The woman let out a loud, rowdy laugh at that.

"Cathrine, calm down. Your tipsy," The girl commanded calmly.

Catherine, as she apparently was named, stopped laughing immediately, suddenly looking sad. "I'm not tipsy, Miss Winry!" She denied.

Winry, as her name was, simply rolled her eyes, and continued to sip her drink.

"Pretty name," The shopkeep complimented, hoping to make up for the street performer comment.

Winry smiled brightly, and thanked him.

"I've never seen you guys around before," The shopkeep continued to make light conversation, now that the ice had been broken. "On a trip?"

"uh-huh," The short boy mumbled. "We're trying to track something down,"

It seemed like the group was going to fall into silence, when the boy suddenly asked; "By the way, what's with this broadcast?"

"You've never heard of Father Cornello?" The shop keep asked them.

"Who?" Both the armored boy and the small boy asked at once, while Winry simply shook her head.

"Maybe he'll give me some more champaign," Catherine said grumpily to herself.

It seemed as if all the eyes in the street where on the newcomers, looking shocked, as if the group couldn't possibly have _not_ heard of Father Cornello.

"Father Cornello!" The shopkeep repeated. "The Sun God Leto's _emissary!"_

"He's the founder of the Church of Leto!" A man suddenly chimed in excitedly. "He can perform miracles!"

"He's a wonderful man, who came to our town a few years ago, and showed us _all_ the way of God!" A woman added.

"Yeah! He's amazing," The man replied.

"They're real miracles! It's the work of God!" A different man added.

The shopkeep turned to the newcomers to find them looking surprisingly uninterested. Catherine was still put-out about not getting more champaign, while Winry looked board and skeptical. The armor's emotions remained a mystery, while the small boy seemed as if he wasn't even listening in the first place.

"Your not listening, are you kid?" The shopkeep sighed.

"Nope, I'm agnostic," The kid corrected, explaining his boredom with a conversation about God and miracles. The shopkeep had been agnostic himself before Father Cornello arrived in town. He felt bad for the kid; it had been tough for him when he believed that God didn't give a shit about him.

The boy finally finished the last of his mac and cheese, and Winry had drank all her water.

"Thanks for the eats," He said, tossing some cash onto the counter top, before hoping off the stool. "Come on, guys, lets go,"

"Kay," Winry hummed, standing up. She held a good few inches over the boy, even with his platform boots and cowlick. The shopkeep took notice of how Catherine seemed to grab Winry's bag, as well as her own, while the boy took hold of his own suitcase. Strangely enough, she held nothing at all.

The boy in armor was the last to stand up. And when he did, he hit the top of the ceiling with his head. The radio, which had been balanced on it, came crashing down to the ground.

The shopkeep cried out as it dropped, but it did nothing to stop its decent downwards. "Hey!" He snapped at the boy in armor. "Could you _please_ be more careful, sir! Frankly you should't walk around wearing that suit,"

"Our bad," The boy apologized, giggling slightly while the onlookers muttered in disappointment over the smashed radio. "Don't worry, we'll fix it right away,"

The shopkeep did a double take. The kid had to be kidding. "You think you can _fix_ it?"

"Just sit back and watch," The kid said cockily, while the boy in armor began to draw a circle around the pieces with chalk. The shopkeep watched as the armored boy added shapes into his circle, and doodled little squiggles. When he was done, he stepped back.

"Ok, all set! Here we go!" He cheered, standing over his strange art work. Suddenly, the circle glowed in a bright light, while sparks of blue electricity shot out from the circle. The shopkeep nervously hunkered down, as white smoke began to fill the air.

"How's that" Said the small boy.

The shopkeep looked at the radio, now completely fixed. "That— That's amazing!" He sputtered out. "Can you work miracles!?"

"Miracles?" The small boy repeated in a dumbfounded voice.

"No, it's nothing like that," Winry jumped in, cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. "It's just alchemy,"

"So your alchemist?" The shopkeep asked, amazed.

"Yep!" The armored boy confirmed enthusiastically. "All your radio needed was a simple transmutation,"

"We're known as the _Elric Crew_ ," The short boy bragged. "A lot of people have heard of us,"

"I still don't see why we had to take _your_ last name," Grumbled Winry, while the shopkeep tried to think of where he heard the name before.

"'Cause _Elric_ is more badass than _Rockbell_ will ever be,"

"We could be the Armstrong Crew," Catherine pipped in.

"No!" Said all three of her traveling companions at once.

"Elric eh," The shopkeep mumbled to himself. "The Elric Crew?"

"Yeah!" Another townsperson suddenly chimed in. " _I've_ heard of you guys! They say the eldest boy is a state Alchemist they call…"

"The _Fullmetal Alchemist_ , Edward Elric!"

The legendary boy who became a state alchemist at age twelve. The youngest State Alchemist ever.

Everyone began to crowd around the apparent state alchemist, all absolutely amazed.

"So _you're_ the master alchemist that everyone's talking about!"

"Oh I get it! They call you 'Fullmetal' because you wear this armor!"

"Wow! Cool!"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Uh, no…" The armored boy said awkwardly. "it's not _me_. It's him!" He said, gesturing to the small boy.

The youngest state alchemist ever. Who became an alchemist at age twelve. That was three years ago. That would make the Fullmetal Alchemist fifteen years old.

But… he was so small!

"Huh? You mean the _little_ guy?" One of the townspeople questioned, dumbfounded.

The child suddenly snapped.

"WHO'S LITTLE!? WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE I DARE YOU!"

Winry dropped her head onto the food stand countertop in embarrassment, while Catherine fell into drunken giggles.

"I'm the _younger_ brother," The armored boy said. That made even less sense. "Alphonse Elric,"

"It's _me!_ " The small boy, — Edward Elric, apparently — snapped out through gritted teeth. " _I'm_ the Fullmetal Alchemist! Edward Elric!"

"Sorry about that!" The shopkeep apologized nervously.

"Don't be," Winry muttered from her spot at the table. "He's insane,"

Just as she said this, a familiar face ran up towards the stand. She wore a simple white summer dress, and a pair of sandals, with blue bracelets around her wrist. Her long, smooth black hair flowed behind her in the wind, while her raspberry-colored bangs bounced with every step. Her skin was dressed with a summer tan, though evidence of past sunburn showed on her shoulders. Her amethyst eyes held kindness and hope.

Nineteen-year-old Rose Thompson; an orphan who was practically raised by the collective efforts of the town. In a way, she was the daughter of _all_ the townspeople, and they made sure to take good care of her.

"Good day, sir!" She called out to the shopkeep, laughing slightly as she noticed the large crowed and the newcomers surrounding the stand. "My, you're busy today!" She hummed cheerily.

"Oh, hello Rose," The shopkeep greeted, turning towards the his shelves and grabbing the things that Rose would normally order. "Going to the temple today?"

"Uh-huh," Rose answered. "With some offerings. The usual please," She requested, just as the shopkeep had predicted. She placed her money on the countertop, while the shopkeep placed her items into a brown paper bag. Rose turned towards the newcomers, and gave them a smile. "Oh, some new faces," she greeted them pleasantly.

"Hi," Edward mumbled back, seeming embarrassed with how the girl towered over him. This Rose girl was even taller than Catherine, and Catherine already made him feel short, despite being the smallest member in a family of giants.

"Yeah, they're alchemist," The shopkeep explained. "They say they're looking for something,"

"I hope you find what your searching for!" Rose told them with a warm smile. "May Leto bless you!" And with that, she walked away.

"Rose has become so happy, lately," A woman commented with a motherly smile.

"Uh-huh," Replied on of the men with an equally parental tone to his voice. "And it's all thanks to the father,"

"Huh?" Ed questioned curiously.

"Not only does that girl have no family, but she lost her boyfriend in an accident last year," The shopkeep explained.

"That poor girl," Winry commented. "If she has no family, where does she stay?"

"The town as a whole kinda just adopted her," The same woman from before said with a smile on her face. "Any of our home's are always open to her. She's been staying with me for a while since I've moved out of my parents house and gotten my own place,"

"That's pretty nice of you guys," Edward hummed, impressed.

"We do what we can to take care of each other," The shopkeep said with a laugh. "Though, I'll have to warn you, Delilah," He said to the woman who was currently living with Rose. "If you keep skipping work you're not gonna have enough money to keep that apartment of yours,"

"I've been doing volunteer work for the Father," Delilah explained herself. "Both my boss and my landlord understand,"

"What kind of work does he have you do?" Winry questioned.

"Oh, I run some errands, clean the temple a little bit, collect donations during service, that kind of thing,"

"Speaking of this Father Cor—ah," Edward started, only to fine he was at a loss for the name.

"Father Cornello," The surrounding townspeople all reminded him with a groan.

"Yeah, Father Cornello," Ed continued, ignoring the disappointed look he was receiving from his little brother. "You said he helped Rose be happy?"

"He did alright!" Said the man sitting next to them with a smile. "Rose was pretty depressed when she lost her boyfriend. Understandably of corse. Still, it was hard to see her in that state,"

"But that's when she was saved by Father Cornello!" Cheered a different man. "He taught her about the Sun God, Leto,"

"Preach on!" Cheered a third man. "He raises the dead! And the souls of the faithful live forever! Cornello's miracles _prove_ it!"

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry exchanged worrisome looks. As if there was something about all this they didn't like.

"You should see them for yourself," Delilah told them, ignoring the looks on their faces. "It's definitely the power of God!"

"Raise the dead, huh?" Edward whispered to his brother and his friend. "I don't like the sound of that,"

Cornello's uncannily calm voice continued to drone on through the radio.

* * *

" _I tell you, pray and have faith. All thy prayers will be answered, and all the grace of His light shall shine upon all of His children,"_

The sermon was finished, and the radio was turned off. Father Cornello put down the book he was reading from, and turned towards his audience.

Cornello was a large, round man, with a bald head, and a neck that seemed to be made up more of chin than actual neck. He wore black, typical priest wear, with a while sash draped around his shoulders.

There where a small group of people in the room, all who worked for his church. They where given the honor of hearing him preach in person.

"A fine sermon, your holiness," Said a tall, beefy young man with dark skin and dark eyes.

"Yes, thank you, your holiness! It's always an honor to hear you preach," Said a shorter man, with pale skin and equally pale hair and eyes.

"Your Holiness!" Came a call from the other end of the room.

Cornello lumbered over to the source of the voice, presently surprised to see Rose Thompson, one of his most devoted followers. "Oh, it's you, Rose," He greeted pleasantly, wearing a wide smile that made his chin take up even more space on his face. "My, so dedicated! Your an example to us all,"

"No, I'm just doing my duty," Rose replied, a tinge of pink on her cheeks, result of the complement. "Um, by the way Father," She started, ready to request her greatest wish. "When will you be able to…" Rose trailed off.

Cornello kept the smile on his face, though his lips seemed to thin slightly. "Yes," He told her. "I know what it is you ask. God has seen your good deeds,"

"Then—!" Rose cheered, only to be interrupted by a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"But it is not yet _time_ , Rose," Cornello told her. "You understand, don't you? Hmm?"

Rose deflated a bit, looking sad. But, if God did not think the time was right, then she could be patient, and wait for him. "Yes Father," She sighed. "Your right. Not yet,"

* * *

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry entered the church. They had left Catherine at the food stand, leaving a not-so-happy shopkeep to take care of the drunk woman.

It was a standard cathedral. With marble walls and columns, stained glass windows depicting the story of Leto's birth and the arrival of his "emissary" to Earth, and an alter at the very front on a small stage. The only thing that distinguished this church than that of any other was the giant marble statue of a bearded man wearing a sun-shaped crown on his head, with two female angles kneeling at his feet, also made from marble.

The three of them had never been religious. Pinako Rockbell, Winry's grandmother, was an atheist, with her father and mother following the same ideals. Trisha Elric, Edward and Alphonse's mother, did believe in a loving God, and would occasionally make quiet prayers to him, but she never put faith in any actual religion, partly because her belief in God was casual, and also partly because she disliked the cruelty that can and had spurred up from most religions.

The children where neither. God did exist, they knew that, and knew it too well. And they also knew that God wasn't particularly loving.

So they identified themselves as agnostic. It was mostly a power-move. Actually, it was 100% completely a power-move.

"You'd think that if someone was going to make a made-up religion they'd put some creativity into it," Winry critiqued.

"Maybe it isn't made up," Alphonse suggested. "He could've just recycled one that was already established.

"Well, that would explain the lack of originality," Winry muttered.

"Well, however he started this thing doesn't matter," Edward pipped in. "We just gotta find the source of his 'miracles'"

"Yep! And we can finally fix ourselves up, and I can drop this alchemy nonsense for automail," Winry cheered.

"You can't just drop alchemy!" Edward protested. "It's a part of your soul!"

"If anything, it's a part of my appendix," Winry quipped back bitterly.

"Well maybe you can do both alchemy and automail," Alphonse suggested. "Personally, all I'm looking forwards to is petting Den again,"

"And once all that is done I can quit my job and we can all go to college or something like normal people," Edward chimed in.

"Not to mention you won't have to carry half a ton of weight on your shoulder wherever you go," Alphonse added.

"That would certainly feel nice!" Edward fantasized. "And once I get my arm back, I won't have to struggle to read my own hand-writing. Hell, maybe even my art skills will be less shitty!"

"What are you talking about, Ed?" Winry teased. "Your art has always been shitty,"

"I resent that," Ed muttered.

"And think about it, Winry!" Al continued to daydream. "You'll finally be able to eat, get dressed, open doors, go to the bathroom, and carry things all by yourself!"

"And we can finally ditch Catherine," Ed added smugly.

"Be nice, Ed, she's not that bad," Winry berate.

"Please, she sucks our wallets dry and then spends it all on champaign," Ed scoffed. "And half the time she's too drunk to do her job anyways,"

"Well, she comes through where it counts," Winry defended her hired assistant.

"I don't know, Winry," Alphonse joined in. "If ditching Catherine means we'll never have to be harassed by her brother again…"

"True," Winry relented, scratching the back of her head with her wrist.

"Oh, it's you three again," A different voice chimed in.

The Elric crew turned to see Rose enter the room. Alphonse instantly stiffened, while Winry glued her hands to her sides.

"Where's your other friend?" She questioned. The only reply she got was an annoyed expression on Winry and Edwards faces. Alphonse would've worn the same expression as well if he _had_ a proper face. Rose decided to leave the topic be. She did remember that the woman had seemed a bit tipsy when she saw her last. "Are you going to join the church of Leto?" She asked the trio.

"Nah," Edward casually refused. "Sorry, but we're not religious,"

"That's not a real answer!" Rose said with a hint of unwanted pity. The trio exchanged somewhat annoyed looks, instantly knowing that they would be taking on a preacher. "If you believe in God," She continued, "You can live with hope and gratitude every day. It's wonderful!" The three didn't even grumble. They knew she would say something like that. However, her next comment was unexpected.

"If you have faith, you'll grow taller for sure! Miracles do happen!"

Alphonse had to quickly grab his brother to keep him from jumping on the poor girl. "Easy, easy," he told him, "she's not saying it to be mean,"

Winry inched towards Rose, who looked slightly confused by Ed's flair in temper. "Word of advice," She told the older girl. "Don't call him short,"

Once Ed finally calmed down, he sat down onto one of the pews. "Sheesh," he sighed, "how can you honestly believe these things?"

 _Believe in Cornello's miracles or that faith will make him grow taller_? Winry questioned internally.

"Do you really believe that if you pray to god, the dead will come back to life?" Edward asked her.

Rose seemed a bit put-off by the forward and blunt questioned, but she didn't get offended. "Yes," She replied confidently. "I do,"

Ed shifted in his seat, pulled out a leather-bound notebook, and opened it up to a page marked with a red ribbon. He blew some of his bangs out of his face, wondering if he should take a hint from Winry and pin them back.

" _Water; 35 liters. Carbon; 20 kilograms. Ammonia; four liters. Lime; 1.5 kilograms. Phosphorus; 800 grams. Salt; 250 grams. Saltpeter; 100 grams. Sulfur; 80 grams. Florine; 7.5 grams. Iron; five grams. Silicon; three grams."_ Ed read from his book. _"_ And fifteen other elements in small quantities," He finally trailed off.

"Huh?" Rose muttered, the chemistry terms spinning around her head, while she just felt confused.

"That's the total chemical makeup of the average adult body," Edward explained. "Modern science knows all of this, but there has never been a single example of successful human transmutation. It's like there's some _missing ingredient._ Scientist have been trying to find it for hundreds of years, pouring tons of money into research, and to this day they don't have a theory,"

Edward finally closed his notebook, placing it back into his coat. "They say science is a lost cause, but I think it's better than sitting around praying and waiting for something to happen. For that matter, the elements found in a human being is all _junk_ that you can buy in the market with a child's allowance. Humans are pretty cheaply made,"

"People aren't _objects_!" Rose snapped, finally unwilling to let the boy continue with his blasphemous rant. "That's an insult to the creator! God will punish you for saying things like that!"

Edward laughed at that. Even Winry, who didn't really approve of Ed's willingness to offend people, stifled a small giggle at this. "God'll punish _us_ , huh?" She said to herself quietly. "God punishes _everybody,_ no matter what you say or do,"

"Maybe he punishes us more than some people," Ed reasoned. "But it's not like we care to much. Alchemist are scientist, after all. We don't believe in unprovable concepts like _god,"_ Ed sighed, looking somewhat distant. "We strive to uncover the principles of creation in the matter of this world; to pursue truth. It's ironic. We scientist, who don't believe in god, are in a sense the closest thing to him,"

"What pride," Rose chastised bitterly, "Are you saying that you are God's equal?"

"Well," Ed hummed. "It's like that myth about the hero. He made wings out of wax so he could fly. But, when he got to close to the sun — to god —, the wax melted and he crashed to the ground,"

Rose's face softened, but still looked confused. "What's that got to do with anything?" She questioned.

"I think what Edward is trying to say is that there are a few claims that Father Cornello made that simply hold no truth to them," Winry explained, acting as a buffer between her brash friend and their unassuming witness. "For example, raising the dead,"

Rose smiled at Winry as if there had been a simple misunderstanding. "I know a _scientist_ and a newcomer might find it hard to believe," Rose told her softly. "But Father Cornello can do it. He has God on his side. You three might have lost someone as well as I have. Just have faith. He'll bring them back,"

Edward suddenly stood up, his body relaxed and calm, but his eye's filled with anger. He bit his tongue. This girl; while maybe a bit pretentious, was only trying to help. She was only grieving. He wouldn't take it out on her. His brother and Winry would be mad at him if he did. But it didn't stop the air from feeling stuffy, and his throat from feeling congested. He needed to get outside.

"This is a lost cause," He sighed, unable to keep the edge from his voice. "Let's get out of here. I need some air,"

Edward walked down the isle to the exit door. Winry frowned, gave Rose a polite nod, then followed her friend. Alphonse muttered a quick apology to Rose, and took his leave as well.

* * *

The trio sat on a park bench they had found. In an hour, Cornello would be making a public demonstration of his talents, so the kids had some time to kill. The fresh air had helped Edward feel better, but he was still somewhat upset. He wasn't alone in that feeling.

"Mom and dad didn't just die by accident," Winry muttered. "They where stabbed in the back with a surgery knife. Someone killed them,"

"What's gonna happen if you find out who did it?" Alphonse asked quietly.

Winry let out a melancholy sigh. "I don't know,"

"I bet _our_ mom could've been saved," Ed chimed in quietly. "If only _he_ didn't walk out on us,"

"Brother," Alphonse replied, his voice light and fragile. As if their frequent disagreement in regards to the topic could easily shatter his voice.

"But, hey," Winry said in a somewhat forced upbeat tone. "At least we've got Granny. And we have each other! What else could anyone need?"

The Elric brothers both giggled slightly. "Can't get much better than that," Edward agreed.

"We've also got all those friends we made at the military," Al added.

"That's right," Ed laughed. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes practically dragged us into his family! And now he constantly bother's us about dropping by. And if we don't _he_ drops in on _us_ ,"

"It's nice to have some home cooking as well," Winry smiled. "Mrs. Hughes is always so happy to cook for us, even when we drop by last minute,"

"Or are dragged in," Ed joked. "Honestly, the Lieutenant Colonel has no idea what personal space is. Still, it's nice to know that we've got some place in Central to stay. Beats having to pay for a hotel,"

"And Lieutenant Colonel Hughes isn't the only one that looks after us," Al mentioned. "The Armstrong family may be a bit overbearing, but you gotta admit, spending the night at their mansion is pretty cool,"

"I guess," Ed said with a shrug. "Though, I can do without the Major or his triplet sisters braking my spine,"

"Once we get back to normal, we can give Teacher a visit," Winry suggested, then added with a shudder, "We gotta make sure to avoid her until then though, or we might not _live_ to get back to normal,"

Her friends laughed nervously, full-heartedly agreeing that it'd be better if their teacher _didn't_ find out about their current state.

"Our military team is pretty great too," Al added. Winry smiled in agreement, while Ed let out a rather over-dramatic groan.

"You mean _Colonel Bastard_ and his band of _nimrods_?" Ed commented with an exasperated sigh.

"Come on, Ed!" Al chastised his older brother. "They practically treat us like family!"

"That doesn't stop them from being moronic assholes," Ed quipped back.

"I'm assuming your _not_ lumping the Lieutenant in with the band of nimrods," Winry joked.

"Of corse I'm not!" Ed protested, sounding almost offended that Winry would even _suggest_ that he would associate the Lieutenant with the group. "I thought that was a given!"

"The Lieutenant _would_ make a pretty good mom," Alphonse mused. "If only the frat laws would be dissembled, then she and the Colonel can get out of that awkward stare fraise,"

"Are you suggesting that the Lieutenant should be with the _Colonel!?_ " Edward exclaimed, shocked.

"Well, why not?" Al said with a shrug. "They obviously like each other,"

"The Lieutenant deserves _better,_ " Edward insisted.

"The Lieutenant Colonel wants them together," Al argued.

"The Lieutenant Colonel also holds mistletoe over Winry and I's head's every winter party," Ed quipped back, his cheeks tinged red.

Al was silent for a few seconds, before saying, "I'm not gonna say anything about that,"

Winry just laughed. "Well, whatever happens, I'd say as long as both parties are happy, it's fine,"

"Speaking of happy," Ed said suddenly, glancing at his pocket watch from the inside folds of his coat, and instantly snapping it shut before anyone else could look at the time with him, "That priest guy's 'bout to do his public demonstration. Depending on our observations of his talents, we might be leaving Lior pretty happy ourselves,"

* * *

A large crowd stood in front of the church, all eyes on Father Cornello. The cheered and cried, screaming praise and amazement, as if this were a singer's concert. Pink flower petals fell around the square from an unknown source, while Cornello waved to his crowd, wearing a smile that was just a bit too wide. He caught one of the pink petals as it fell around him, and cupped his hands around it. A faint glow of light, as well as small, red sparks, shined from the insides of his palms, before he threw the object into the air, revealing a crystal sunflower.

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry stood in the middle of the crowd, watching his performance. Skeptical looks plastered their faces.

"What do you guys think?" Ed asked them.

"That kind of transmutation _has_ to be alchemy," Al observed.

"No doubt about it," Winry confirmed. "That was a solid alchemical transmutation if there ever was one,"

"We're all on the same page then," Ed mused, the cogs in his head spinning around and around. "But what about the laws…"

Rose saw them standing in the crowd, and headed over to the trio, wondering if they had came to this performance with a little more open-mindedness than they showed an hour ago. She also had the feeling that she had upset them with her comment about a lost loved one, and wanted to apologize.

"So you came to see him after all," Rose greeted, waiting for the kids to turn towards her before continuing. "I'm sorry if I upset you with what I said earlier," Rose apologized. "If there was someone you'd lost, I probably sounded insensitive with what I said,"

"It's fine," Winry told her. "You where just trying to help,"

"And it's not like you _don't_ know what it's like," Edward added in, somewhat bitterly, keeping his eyes on Cornello. He didn't need to see his friend's disappointed looks to know they where there. They _knew_ he said that to get under Rose's skin. Ed simply ignored them. It wasn't like he reveled in being mean or anything; he just didn't forgive people very easily.

Rose sighed sadly, either unaware of the malice in Edward's tone, or doing a fair job of ignoring it. Either way. "I did mean what I said, however," She told them. "Father Cornello can do amazing things, and his kindness know's no bounds. I'll keep your lost loved one's in my prayers to Leto,"

"Great. That makes me feel _so_ much better," Edward mumbled, doing so quietly to avoid his companions glares.

"But, as you can see," Rose continued. "Father Cornello can work miracles. He really is the sun God's child,"

"Nope," Ed replied bluntly. "That's alchemy, no matter how you look at it. Cornello's a fraud,"

Rose grumbled at this comment. Edward would've been lying if he said he wasn't satisfied that he got under her skin. The young alchemist breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, doing his best to shove the grudge aside. She would get a cold slap to the reality soon enough, he didn't need to make things worse by being a jackass. Besides, he had other things to think about.

"But he can bypass the laws for some reason," Alphonse pointed out, hoping to draw attention away from Rose. He knew Edward too well, and knew Edwards was a particular failure in his forgiving skills. He honestly felt bad for the poor nineteen-year-old, but he also wanted to keep his brother's focus on their mission. Not like it was that hard. He just sometimes needed a gentle shove _away_ from any current distractions.

"Yeah, that's the problem right there," Edward agreed.

"The laws?" Rose questioned.

"Laws of alchemy," Winry said simply. The group had an unspoken rule that it would be Winry who described alchemical principles to normal people, since both Ed and Al didn't really know the definition of 'Lay-mans terms'. "Alchemy in it's basic form is the science of breaking matter apart and putting it back together as something different. You change something into something else. It's rather simple actually,"

"And it's limited by laws?" Rose asked.

"Everything is limited by laws," Winry confirmed. "The art might _look_ like magic, but it's about as magical as a tree growing out of a seed. You can't make something out of nothing. If you want to make something big, you gotta use something just as big as a foundation. You can't make a hundred-foot-statue or something out of a pebble,"

"So what you start with and what you finish with has to be equal," Rose summed up.

"Exactly," Winry continued. "If you wanna make a house, you have to have all the material you need to build the house, just like regular construction, except quicker. You also can't change the chemical foundation of an object. For example; you can't turn water into stone, or vice versa,"

"Every time I hear about alchemy, it always sounds really complicated and impossible to understand," Rose laughed, "but it's actually pretty simple,"

"Simple doesn't equal easy, though," Winry told her. "It's simple to pay the price for something you want, but it doesn't make it easy,"

"You see," Edward jumped in, shoving down his annoyance of how well Winry got along with Rose after what she said, and burying it deep inside his gut. He didn't need it right now. "the basics of alchemy is _Equivalent Exchange._ That means to obtain something, something of equal value must be lost. But that old guy is making too much out of too little. Alchemy-wise, that's breaking the law,"

Much to Ed's annoyance, Rose took this as an excuse to prove them wrong. " _See_! So why don't you three just have faith that it's a miracle already!"

Ed stoped himself from growling at her. Even Al and Winry seemed a bit annoyed with her stubbornness, despite the two of them being more patient than Edward would ever be. She was just defending her beliefs, and processing her grief over her dead boyfriend through this false religion with it's false promises. She was a victim, Edward had to remind himself. He had always hated his country's victim-blaming culture. It would be hypocritical of him if he faulted Rose for her hardships.

But it was _so_ hard _not_ to get upset with her somewhat insensitive and _extremely_ misplaced peppiness. She reminded him of this one girl in his class back when he was a kid. Hannah, he was pretty sure her name was. She was so optimistic it was annoying, and not to mention her weird optimism made her have to find a bright side to their _mother's death_ of all things. ("I'm sorry about what happened to your mommy, Eddy, but think of it this way! You'll no longer have someone force you to do your homework or eat something you don't like, and you'll never have a bedtime again!") Sure, she was, like, six at the time, but Edward didn't regret slugging her for that comment.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Winry said, dragging Ed out of his thoughts. He saw how her eyes where glued to Cornello, so he assumed that she was thinking of the other thing, and _not_ how much Rose reminded him of Hannah.

"Definitely," Al confirmed, a hint of excitement in his voice. This was it. They would finally get back to normal.

Edward could almost laugh with glee, but he decided he didn't really want to look insane at the moment. Even still, he let a smile grow across his face. "I think we found it," He whispered joyously.

Now they just had to get their hands on it.

Edward was somewhat surprised that he was glad that Rose was there. He didn't like her (not like it was particularly _hard_ for him to dislike someone), but at least she gave them a one-way ticket into the church. Edward channeled his excitement into a flowery voice and happy-go-lucky body language and face expression. They had never been so close!

"Hey lady!" He said to Rose, his voice filled with bubbles he didn't really like to share with anyone but Al, Winry, and maybe Granny. Catherine was aloud to listen to them too, but that was because she was always tagging along like a forth wheel, so it wasn't like she could avoid them. But those bubbles where useful. So Ed shared them with Rose, because he had to sell it. "I'm starting to get interested in this religion! I'd _love_ to speak to his Holiness! Do you think you can take me to him?"

"Oh my!" Rose cried happily, obviously _more_ than willing to take Edward up on his offer. "So you're finally starting to believe!"

Yep, he sold it.

* * *

The large man with dark skin who had earlier listened to Cornello broadcast his sermon entered the office of the man in question. Cornello was sitting at a wooden table near the window, a cup of tea near his hand, and a book on his lap. He had been reading a romance novel about the love between an alchemist and a homunculus woman that he created. The novel held the same level of trash that many vampire romance novels held, was hated by critics, and most of the readers hated the entire process of getting through it, but couldn't put it down, as if reveling in the trash that was this book. Cornello was one of those people who enjoyed it ironically, and read it more frequently than the novel deserved to be read, mostly because he _really_ wanted to finish the book so he could go read something else. Why he felt the need to finish the book before reading something better, he wasn't sure. He guessed that is what it meant to enjoy something ironically.

He was equally annoyed and relived with the disruption from his reading.

"Your Holiness," Said the large, dark-skinned man. "There are some people here who are requesting an audience with you. They're a boy, a girl, and a man in a suit of armor. They say that they're the Elric crew,"

 _I have to see them! Anything to keep me from continuing to read this trash_ , Cornello told himself, but, much to his dismay, found his mouth saying, "What? I'm busy, send them away,"

Cornello glared at the book in his lap. _Looks like I'm stuck with you_.

Something suddenly occurred to him. The kid's names. Elric. He knew that name. If action wasn't taken, things would go downhill for them very quickly.

"Wait," He said, thoughts of the novel suddenly leaving his mind. "The Elric crew? _Edward Elric_!?"

"Yes, it was the boy who called himself that," His follower confirmed. "Do you know him?"

"Argue! This is bad!" Cornello exclaimed. "It's Edward Elric! The _Fullmetal Alchemist_!"

The dark-skinned man recoiled in shock. It couldn't be… Not now. Not yet. "Wha! But he's just a little brat, only _this_ high!" He cried out, holding his palm a handful of inches less than five feet over the ground. "You're joking, right?"

"You fool!" Cornello snapped, placing a palm on his forehead in worry. "Alchemical skill has _nothing_ to do with his age! I heard that he obtained his state certification at age twelve. So, the rumors about this little brat where really true,"

"What is a state alchemist doing here?!" The follower fretted. "Could it be that our plan—"

"It seems the dogs of the military have good noses," Cornello interrupted, confirming the dark-skinned man's fears.

"Shall we chase them away?" He suggested.

Cornello shook his head. "No, that would cause more suspicion, and even if we do chase them away, they'd come back, and bring _more_!" Cornello took a second to think. Well, there was one thing they could do. "Let's just say they _never_ came. Does that sound good?"

The follower got the message. He showed no hesitation to the thought of hurting children. Cornello couldn't help but feel glee at this. "It shall be as God wills," The follower said, making Cornello's smile widen.

* * *

They where being led to the basement, of all places. Of corse they where. Nothing good ever happened in a basement. The trio already had their guard up, and the way events unfolded came as no surprise to them.

"We probably shouldn't have left Catherine alone for so long," Winry had commented, casually. "She's probably worried,"

"So? Let her worry," Ed replied gruffly. "If she _really_ wanted to go around with us, she shouldn't of had gotten so drunk,"

"She was only tipsy," Winry argued back.

"She had six glasses of champaign. The shop-guy literally refused to give her another glass," Ed countered, unamused.

The three kids, as well as Rose, where led deeper into the basement by the big, dark-skinned follower, who Rose had introduced to them as "Brother Cray". Ed made the somewhat embarrassing mistake of calling him "Clay" when attempting to make small talk, only for the man to go on a rant about how his name was _Cray_ , and not _Clay_ , or _Dray_ , or _Ray_ , or _Kay_ , or _Jay._ His temper flare-up was so surprisingly similar to Edwards short rants that he seemed to have a mini-crisis, rethinking his life. He got over it in about ten seconds.

"Please, come this way," Cray (not Clay) told them, leading through the door in a basement. Al, Winry, and Ed exchanged looks, preparing themselves or the worse. "His holiness is very busy, so it's not easy to get an audience with him. You two are very lucky,"

"I'll try not to talk for too long," Ed assured pleasantly, aware of the door closing behind them.

"Yes, let's end it right away," Cray said maliciously. _Here we go_ , Ed thought. "Like this!" He shouted, spinning around quickly, and placing a gun over the eye slits in Alphonse's armor. Before anyone could react, he pulled the trigger, blasting the poor kids head off. The armor fell down, and the helmet clanked onto the ground, rolling a small distance away from the rest of the suit.

No matter how many times they had done this, Ed still felt the surge of fear go through his body every time he heard a gun shot. And even though he knew that Al would be alright, his heart still leapt into his throat whenever his baby brother was shot at like that.

The two other men that had come into the room with them where holding spears, and they used the weapons to keep Ed from running over to his brother. Cray reached out with the hand that wasn't holding the gun and grabbed a fistful of Winry's short hair, holding her in place. She hit his hand with her wrist, the action doing little to help her get out of her predicament. She hated feeling helpless.

Rose, in the meantime, had screamed with shock when Al was shot, and looked incredibly shaken by the turn of events. The reality was starting to hit her.

"Brother Cray! What are you doing!?" She cried, sounding like she was ready to cry. Well, it wasn't every day that somebody witnessed the near murder of another person.

"Rose, these are heathens that were trying to entrap his holiness. They're evil," Cray explained simply, as if t justified the murder of children.

"What!" Rose sputtered out in disbelief. "But his holiness would never let you do this!" She cried out. "Let you…" She trailed off as she choked on a sob, feeling the need to scream.

"He did allow it," Cray told her.

The broken look on Rose's face was heart wrenching, and even though Edward didn't like the nineteen-year-old, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He could tell how much this entire situation was crushing her, and despite his anger at her for what she said at the church, he wanted to help her, at least somewhat slightly.

Besides, it wasn't like she was entirely unhelpful.

"The words of his holiness are the words of God," Cray continued, pointing the gun at Edwards head, his grip on Winry's hair tightening, causing her to yelp out in pain. "THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD!" He shouted manically, getting ready to kill the young boy.

Suddenly, a black leather hand gripped the gun, as the voice of Alphonse Elric spoke out through the suit of armor, echoing through the hollow shell. "Hm," He buzzed. "Guess there are some _really_ bad gods out there,"

There was no body inside the armor.

Cray screamed out in shock, letting go of Winry as he freaked out. Using all her body weight, Winry rammed her elbow into his stomach, making him hunch over in pain. Edward grabbed the robed of one of the men holding him and flipped the man over his shoulder, knocking him out with a kick to the head. Cray, meanwhile, received a punch in the face by the empty suit of armor, knocking out a tooth, and knocking the man out instantly.

The third and final and let out a yell as he tried to run towards the door, only to be clocked in the head by Alphonse's helmet.

"Alright! Strike!" Edward cheered, obviously proud of himself.

"My head!" Al cried out, obviously less than pleased with his brother's use of his helmet as a projectile.

"Wha! Wha! Wha!" Rose screamed out, pointing at the empty suit of armor, obviously terrified. "WHAT IS THIS!"

"Nothing special," Ed told her knocking on the armor.

"It's just what it looks like," Al explained.

"He doesn't have a body," Winry hummed with a shrug, though she looked a bit saddened by her statement. "That's all there is to it,"

Rose stared in shock. "But, how!?" She cried.

"You might say," Al explained quietly, placing his head back on. It was only then that Rose finally noticed that his "eyes" where simply glowing red orbs in each armor slit. She wondered how she hadn't seen that before. "This is what happens when you commit the greatest sin. When you trespass God's domain. My big brother, Winry, and I. We…" He simply trailed off.

"You guys too?" Rose questioned.

Winry gave Rose a sad smile. "It couldn't have escaped your notice how I hadn't used my hands the entire time we've known each other,"

Rose thought back, remembering all the tiny details she missed out on, like how Winry's hands where held stiff by her weird gloves, and she remembered that her coat had once fallen off one of her shoulder, and Alphonse was the one who put it back on, not her. She thought nothing at the time, but…

"They can't move, can they?" Rose concluded. "And Edward…"

Ed scratched the back of his head. "It's not exactly something we like to talk about,"

"Anyways, we still got things to do," Winry changed the subject. "And I guess our hostile welcome party means there's something Cornello doesn't want us to find,"

Ed laughed a bit. "I guess we did find it then. Not even an annoying setback such as this one can take me out of my good mood!"

"Your in a good mood? That's a terrifying thought," Al quipped.

Rose felt saddened. They where kids. Sure, she wasn't _that_ much older than them, but it still made her heart ache. Disabled, bodiless, had lost loved one's, and it seemed that they where trying to get back what they lost, but such a journey had to be painful. Rose couldn't even imagine the hell they've seen.

 _That's why they came here_ , Rose thought. _They must've heard of Father Cornello's miracles, and wanted to find the source of his power so they could fix themselves. No wonder they where so cynical. They probably have never had a miracle before, and couldn't believe what they where seeing. Father Cornello can help them. Brother Cray must've been mistaken when he said the Father gave him orders to kill these poor kids. God sent them here to receive the help they needed._

"That settles it, then," Rose said firmly. "I _have_ to take you to Father Cornello. If anyone can fix you three, he can,"

Ed groaned out in annoyance. "Come on! After all this, you still believe in his _phoniness_ ,"

"This was just a mistake!" Rose insisted. "Father Cornello would never give such commands! He can help you! Just believe!"

"Yeah, I _believe_ that Priest Baldy is deceiving you all with some hack-job alchemy," Ed barked back.

"Nobody can help us except ourselves, Rose," Winry told her calmly. "We've chased enough false leads and seen enough deceit to know this,"

"Father Cornello isn't deceiving anybody," Rose said firmly. "He's _will_ bring my love back to life, and he _will_ help you guys, and he _will_ give you back your lost loved ones. He can do these things! Why can't you just believe it!?"

Edward gritted his teeth. He was surprised that he wasn't mad at her for once. He understood completely. Ed took a deep breath, and said to the older girl, "Rose, I'm sorry for being a jackass towards you. Our situations are more similar than you'd think. I have a plan, but I need you for it. Are you brave enough to face the truth?

* * *

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry stood in front of the door that would lead to Cornello's main room. Rose didn't exactly know what he held in there, but she did know he seemed to spend a lot of time in the room.

"Is this Cornello's room? The one Rose told us about?" Al asked. He couldn't help but admit that he was getting excited. This could be their final mission. They could finally go back to normal.

Al liked his brother's idea of going to college like a normal person. He had heard good words about Central University. Maybe he could go there.

"Let's see," Edward hummed, giving the door a small poke. It opened pretty easily. "I guess that means 'Come on in'," Ed joked, stepping into the dark room.

"So an unlocked door is permission to enter?" Winry quipped. "No wonder you invaded my room so frequently,"

Edward would've protested, but honestly, her joking tone made him feel a bit better. He wasn't particularly afraid of the dark, but it still creeped him out when he couldn't see anything. The door shutting behind the trio with a loud slam didn't help to settle his nerves either.

"Welcome to the great church of Leto," Said the same uncanny voice they had heard on the radio only a few hours ago. The lights turned on to reveal a large empty room, with a set of stares at the very back of it. Cornello stood at the top of those stares, his smile wide and unnatural.

Well, at least it wasn't pitch black anymore.

"Did you come to here me preach? Hmm?" Cornello asked, eyeing them all suspiciously. Winry subconsciously folded her arms, covering herself with her yellow jacket.

"Yeah, by all means, teach us," Ed said bitterly, inching closer towards his childhood friend, noticing how uncomfortable she was with this guy. If Ed was honest, Cornello made him uncomfortable too. How the hell did this guy become so popular and respected when he practically oozed pedophile vibes?

"Like about how you use your lame alchemy to decide your followers!" Edward accused.

Cornello's lips seemed to thin. "Well, I'm not sure what you mean," He said with a little too much hesitation. "Please, don't confuse my miracles with Alchemy. If you saw for yourself, you'd believe—"

"Yeah, I've seen it all right," Edward interrupted, "And what I couldn't understand was how you're able to do transmutations that goes against the Laws,"

"That's what I'm telling you," Cornello stubbornly insisted, his just-to-wide smile twitching, "It's _not_ alchemy,"

"And then it came to me," Edward continued, a wicked edge in his voice. Even with false leads and lost hope, Edward never quite lost his love of taking down the Bad Guy. What fifteen-year-old would? " _The Philosophers Stone_. _That's_ how you do it right?"

Cornello's smile started to twitch even more, while his finger, which was adorn with a gold band with a blood-red jewel, seemed to shake.

"Like maybe, just maybe," Edward hummed out smugly, knowing that he was spot on. That this was it. That after three years of hell, he could finally get his little brother and Winry back to normal. "It's that _ring,"_

Silence protruded the room, and the air became tense. This was it. Everything came down to this.

Cornello let out a harsh and brief laugh. "The government get's their money's worth out of you, don't they?" He jeered. "I guess you saw through the whole thing. _Correct_! The Philosophers Stone, the legendary catalyst, the amplifier of all alchemical processes. With this, I can conjure at the minimum price for the maximum result!

Ed smiled with glee. It was right there! How he longed for it, desired it. He could practically taste it. He _needed_ it. This was it. Finally, everything could go back to normal. "How long I've searched for that…"

Granny was going to be so happy when they came home!

"Humph," Cornello scoffed. "What's the jealous look in your eyes? What do _you_ want the stone for? Money? Honor?"

"What about you?" Edward countered. "What do you get out of founding this phony religion? If it's money you want you can make as much as you want with the stone,"

"It's not about the money," Cornello told them. "Well, I do want money, but I can get that with almost no effort; in the form of donations from my flock," His smile began to widen, revealing paper-white teeth. "What I _really_ need are followers who will happily give their lives for me," He continued to monologue. "Think about it! An invincible army of fanatics with no fear of death! Soon I'll have more than enough people! Just watch! Within a few years time this entire nation will be mine!" Cornello let out a loud, villainous laugh. Ed, Winry, and Al exchanged looks. They where honestly hoping that their final obstacle in the way of their goal wasn't someone as lame as a movie villain stereotype.

"Well, fine, but I don't really care about that," Ed told him in a board drone, "Let's move on,"

"WHAT?!" Cornello shouted out, offended. "Don't belittle my ambition by saying you _don't care_!"

"Honestly, we've heard a hundred evil monologues before, and they just get lamer each time," Winry told him with a shrug.

"But you can't just _not care!_ " Cornello shouted in disbelief. "You guys are members of the military! You'd _better_ care!"

"Actually," Ed countered nonchalantly. "I couldn't care less about this country or the military. It's not my problem,"

"Well, the entire country would kinda be our problem…" Al brought up.

"Please, we can just take Granny and Teacher and move to Xing or something," Ed plotted with a shrug. "But, I'll be honest with you, Baldy. I just want the philosophers stone. Give me _that_ and I'll keep quiet about the scam you've been pulling on everybody,"

Cornello scoffed. "You'd try to bargain with _me_? My followers would never believe the words of an outsider like you! The people of this town _love_ me! They think that my words come from _god_! No matter how much noise you make, no matter what evidence you have, they'll _never_ listen to you! THOSE IDIOTS WILL BELIVE ANYTHING I TELL THEM! I'VE COMPLETELY FOOLED THEM!"

Winry rolled her eyes, while Ed could barely contain his laughter. Who was this guy kidding? He was an idiot!

Edward clapped slowly, patronizingly saying, " _Wow_ , you _are_ smart! Thanks for telling me how you do it,"

Alphonse began to unstrap the breastplate of his armor, taking it off and slamming it onto the floor with a clang. "You're right," Edward said smugly, "Your followers would never listen to a word I say, _but_!"

Al pulled back the chainmail drapes inside his armor to reveal that they had hidden Rose inside of it the whole time. "What about _her_ words?" Edward challenged.

"Rose!?" Cornello cried out in shock. The entire towns adopted daughter. Who was kind to the children, and greeted everyone with a smile and a contagious wave of joy. If there was anyone the townspeople loved more than Cornello, it would be Rose. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Father!" Rose cried, crawling out of the armor roughly. Cornello found himself creeped out by the fact that the armor had a voice that definitely didn't belong to Rose, but that wasn't his main concern right then. He could do what he needed to do and be freaked out by the weird armor boy at the same time.

"Is everything you said just now true?!" Rose shouted at him. "Were you fooling us this whole time!? Your miracles aren't real? The power of God can't grant my wish? YOU CAN'T BRING MY DARLING BACK AGAIN!?"

Tears flowed from her eyes in large amounts. She couldn't accept that _this_ was the reality. It couldn't be.

That boy. That _wonderful_ boy. He was kind and loving; he took care of her, he gave her love, he made her feel as if she weren't alone. He was all she had. She couldn't accept that he was just _gone_.

Cornello smirked, much to the dismay of Ed, Al, and Winry. "It's true that I'm not god's emissary, but with this stone, it may be possible to transmute living beings, which so many alchemist have tried and failed. Rose, I _will_ resurrect him,"

"Rose, don't listen to him!" Alphonse cried out in concern. He was lying. They _knew_ he was lying. And deep down, Rose knew it too. But…

"Rose, be a good girl and come here," Cornello commanded.

"If you go, you can never come back!" Edward warned.

"What's the matter? You belong with us," Cornello told her. "I'm the only one that can grant you your wish. Isn't that so?"

"Rose, he's lying to you, and you know it," Winry insisted. "You don't need to go to him,"

"Think about your darling, and come!" Cornello demanded of the poor girl. And that was what made her break. Rose slowly and sadly walked away from the Elric crew, and towards the false prophet, where she had been twisted into thinking she belonged. The trio slumped in defeat; They where almost there! They where almost there!

"I'm so, sorry, you guys. I want to help you, _believe_ me!" Rose apologized, looking back at the younger kids. These kids who grew up to fast. Who were relying on her.

They where relying on her…

"Father Cornello," Rose said bravely. "They're just kids! They're kids who have gone through hell! Can't we do anything to help them?"

"You would want to help these heathens?" Cornello spat out through gritted teeth, clearly annoyed, but not shouting yet. "They stand in the way of you and your wish! Why would you want to help them?"

"Because they don't deserve this!" Rose shouted. "Sure, they seem arrogant, and they may be argumentative, but they just need _help_! Life has failed them in so many ways, why would they think that _this_ would be any different! A little boy had lost his entire body! This poor girl can't move her hands! I don't even _want_ to know what happened to Edward! Why can't we _help_ them?!"

Cornello frowned. "I see, Rose," He said. "I see,"

Rose smiled in relief, happy that those poor children where _finally_ going to be given what they needed. "So, you'll help them?" She asked, smiling through her tears.

Cornello sighed. "You misunderstand, Rose. These children are beyond help, and it seems as if you are as well,"

Rose gasped, her eyes widening in shock and fear, as Cornello pulled a lever on the wall. "It seems I have to eradicate _you_ as well as these heathens. You all are now a threat to my plans. And you all shall be purged.

The sound of a door opening came from the side of the room, where it was still pitch black. Out of the darkness approached a creature. It had a reptilian tail, a lions head, and eagle-like claws. It was blind in one eye, and rectangle patches of transmutation marks littered the body of the poor thing.

"The philosopher's stone is truly incredible," Cornello bragged. "It can even create new life like this. Have you ever seen a _chimera_?"

The thing growled at them. Rose was shaking in fear, while the trio looked as if this was just another Wednesday.

Winry shrugged. "I've seen better," She said snidely.

"Still, it might not be a good idea to go empty handed," Ed told her with a smirk. Al got into a fighting stance, while Winry and Edward both clapped their hands at the same time.

Rose was finally able to see the purpose of Winry's gloves. They kept her hand stiff, and in position, so she could easily press her palms at the front of her breast, holding them together to create a transmutation circle with her body, with all but a simple clap.

The two of them placed their hands on the ground at the same time, while smoke, blast of light, and tall, blue sparks sailed from their palms. Edward lifted a sphere out of the ground, which had a dragon twisted around the tip at the end. On Winry's side, hard stone began to climb up and around her palms and arms in clumps, forming fist-shaped gauntlets. Cornello would be lying if he said he weren't amazed by they're impressive display of alchemy without a transmutation circle.

"You two made a weapon from the floor without using a transmutation circle!?" Cornello exclaimed. "So you deserve the state alchemist tittle after all! But that still won't be enough!"

"Rose, stay close," Alphonse told her, shielding her with his body.

The chimera ran at Edward, swiping it's claws across the boys left leg, cutting the sphere apart. Shreds of fabric flew off his pants.

"How do you like the test of claws that can cut through iron?!" Cornello laughed.

Ed just smiled. "Winry! Coming at you!" He shouted, kicking the thing towards his friend, who swung her stone-covered arms into the creatures face as soon as she could reach it.

"My grandmother worked hard on that leg!" She shouted at it. "You better not mess it up!"

"Get up, you stupid cat!" Cornello shouted desperately. "Bite them!"

The creature ran towards Winry with a vengeance, only to end up with a fist-shaped rock in its mouth. "Watch the hands," She quipped, punching it away.

The big cat shook it's head, feeling dizzy. It stood up, and crept closer to them.

"Winry! Your bleeding!" Rose suddenly cried out.

Winry looked down to see a small knick on her chest. Blood was pouring from it, but it looked worse than it probably was. Winry ignored the wound. Nothing she hadn't dealt with before.

However, before she could say that she was fine, Edward was running towards her in concern. He didn't see the chimera surprise attack him.

Ed let out a yelp of surprise and threw his right arm in front of his face to protect himself. The chimera bit into it, scratching away at the shoulder, completely destroying Ed's sleeve.

"It's a dirty thing to attack a guy with his back turned," Ed growled dangerously. "And on top of that, you ruined my favorite coat!"

Edward kicked the creature off of his arm. And as the fabric of his clothes where torn away, it revealed all.

"Look at me, Rose!" Edward demanded. "This is what happens to sinners who trespass in god's domain! When you try to steal something from heaven!"

"Automail prosthetics!" Cornello observed. " _Fullmetal_ prosthetics. So that's why…"

Edward tore off the rest of his shredded coat, letting both Cornello and Rose see his arm. His leg shined with a metal glint, and metal shifted against metal with every move his right arm made. Robotic fingers let up to a silver forearm, a mechanical elbow sat between the forearm and his steal upper arm. Plates protected wires, crawling into his shoulder port, where metal connected to bone, and wires where clipped painfully onto each and every severed nerve. The heavy thing hanged from his stump, pulling in a numb pain that the boy was so used to that he barely even noticed it even more. A metal plate was grafted and nailed into his skin, balancing the arm to keep it from dropping out of it's port, while surgery and burn scar's crept up from under the plating, his entire right arm loudly singing a song of pain.

"The _Fullmetal Alchemist!_ "

Edward held out his hand, an emended fire in his eyes. _This_ is what he sacrificed. _This_ was the pain he carried. And _this_ was the pain he would _gladly_ continue to carry until he could finally get his little brother and best friend back to normal. No matter the pain.

"Come down here and face me, you third-rate fraud!" Edward challenged, holding a fire and bravery in himself that nobody could ever extinguish; that he couldn't _afford_ to have extinguished. "I'll show you," He promised "THERE'S NO COMPARISON BETWEEN US!"

* * *

 **So. Many. Fucking. Pages!**

 **So. That's the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.**

 **I decided to add a bit of extra banter, a little bit of added personality, just minor details. No major changes will happen to the story until later, so I just had some fun detail with the stuff I won't be changing that much, just to make it an interesting read. I hope it was fun.**

 **Read and review, please! Tell your fellow fandom members about it. Give it views. Give feedback. Whatever.**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out!**


	3. Chapter 2

**So, this chapter was less pages. Still a bit lengthy, but not as long as the previous chapter. I'm not really gonna have an update schedule with this. I'll just kinda write when I can, and update when I've got something to update.**

 **That being said, I hope you enjoyed last chapter. If you did, I would appreciate a review saying so, but that's optional. Whatever you do, I just hope you enjoy.**

 **I hope I wasn't too harsh on Rose last chapter. I really do like her character, I just imagined that our golden trio might be a little less friendly towards her than they could've been, and I wanted to explore that. The earlier chapters are mostly going to be about character exploration, at least until the plot starts to kick up.**

 **This story is going to eventually diverge from cannon, which seems obvious, since we've got one extra person in central focus, so it's not just Ed and Al driving the plot. I don't exactly know what will happen in the future, but I'll just have to wait and see as the story progresses. They'll still kick Father's ass in the end, no worries, but what will happen between now and then, I can't tell you. I'm just writing as I go.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. It belongs to our Goddess, Hiromu Arakawa, and I think it's best to leave it that way, because she is amazing.**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Price of Life

* * *

If ever there was a song of pain, no object in existence could ever sing louder than the heavy work of automail that made up Edward Elric's right arm.

Three children, who thought their future would gleam gold, where thrown down into hell when they trespassed into God's domain. They where damaged and beaten, but they now had a new mission. They had to fix themselves. Put themselves back together. In order for Alphonse to have a human body again. In order for Winry to finally be able to do things herself again. In order for Edward to never have to hear the screaming song of pain again.

"I see," Cornello sneered at the children. "Now I understand who you are. It was always a mystery to me why a mere brat had a fearsome alias like 'Fullmetal', but now I know," Cornello laughed. "You fools dared to do the one thing forbidden to alchemist; the unspeakable crime of _human transmutation_ ," He smiled mockingly. "They've committed the worst possible sin!"

And suddenly Rose understood. How they flew to close to the sun. How their wings of wax melted, and how they crashed back down to earth. And she understood _why_ they didn't believe that Cornello can raise the dead. And why he couldn't; not without consequences.

 _Shit_. She thought bitterly. _That was the only bit of hope I had…_

* * *

" _Alphonse! Winry! Hey guys!" Edward called out, running across the floor of the house._

 _Winry and Al peaked up from the books they where looking through in the Elric's father's basement, where he had kept his alchemical lab before he had left. "What is it, big brother?" Alphonse asked._

 _"Look!" Ed cried, showing his brother and best friend a scripture which held circle's and methods and footnotes scribbled across it. A perfect recipe for human transmutation. "We can't go wrong with this theory!"_

 _"No way!" Al cried out excitedly._

 _"Is this it?" Winry asked enthusiastically._

 _"It is!" Edward cheered. "This says how to do it! We can bring our parents back from the dead!"_

"We had no doubts about doing it," Alphonse told Rose, as the memories from _that day_ played through his mind. Bitter memories of the mistake that cost them everything. "Our mother was so kind, the kindest person in the world. All we wanted was just to see our mother's smile again. And Winry, she lost _both_ her parents, suddenly and tragically. She wanted a chance to see their faces, to _talk_ to them again. We where going to do everything it took to make our wishes come true, even if it meant breaking the laws of alchemy. That was the only reason we were studying alchemy, after all…"

 _The three children had discussed theorems and methods, drawn the transmutation circle onto the floor with chalk, set up everything right, did everything perfectly. Not a single mistake was made— could afford to be made! It was all so exciting! They where going to see their parents again! No longer would they be alone!_

"But the resurrection failed," Alphonse continued, the weight of sadness in his voice.

 _Black hands made from a strange sort of dust swirled around, collecting they're payment for the act. The ripped Edwards leg off, slowly ate away at Alphonse's body, disintegrating it, and they slipped into the skin of Winry's hands, stealing all of her precious nerve cells inside of it._

"When it failed," Alphonse recalled, "My brother lost his left leg, Winry lost the neurons in her hands, and I had my whole body _taken_. I lost conciseness for a while. The next thing I saw when I opened my eyes was this armor body, and a sea of blood.

 _Alphonse had woken up, his body feeling strange and_ wrong _. He could move it, he knew that much, but nothing else registered. He felt empty - like a presence that was supposed to be there just_ wasn't _. It didn't take long for him to figure out_ why _._

 _He remembered crying out in shock and fear, but that was nothing compared to the next sight he saw. Slumped up limply against the wall was his brother and Winry. Ed's missing leg was sloppily covered with bandages, and Winry was holding him, pressing herself into his shoulder while crying, while blood stained her clothing. Alphonse quickly ran over to the duo, desperate to know what was happening. He was able to pull Winry off of Edward long enough to see that the thing she was desperately trying to cover was his missing arm, which was quickly loosing blood._

 _Winry screamed again, throwing body back onto the stump, desperate. "Please, don't!" She cried when Al tried to fight her off of his older brother, needing to confirm what he saw. Edward, the strongest boy he knew, couldn't have possibly lost his arm, could he? "I gotta save him!" Winry shrieked, large tears pouring out of her eyes, "He's gonna die!"_

 _"I'll be ok, Win," Ed muttered quietly and slowly. "I'm just glad… you two are alright,"_

 _"We need to get to Granny's!" Al declared, his voice cracking, as if he where going to cry. But he couldn't. He couldn't cry. That would require a body; something he did not have. "Big brother, what happened?" He asked desperately._

 _Edward released a weak laugh, muttering "Sorry," while his little body, all out of strength, slumped into Winry, who looked like she was barely holding onto consciousness herself. "All I could get for one amp was your soul," Edward continued._

 _It took a few moments for Alphonse to understand what Edward had meant, but all of a sudden it clicked. Those hands had only been eating at his brothers_ leg, _after all. But the arm…_

 _"Brother," Alphonse cried out in despair and disbelief. "Why?"_

"Even after the horrible injury of losing his left leg," Al repented, "My older brother exchanged his right arm for my soul, and put it in this suit of armor,"

Edward let out a harsh laugh, "The _three_ of us tried to resurrect _one_ person, and this is what happened," Edward shook his head. "This is what it takes to raise the dead, Rose. ARE YOU READY TO MAKE THAT SACRIFICE!"

Rose flinched, shocked. This kind of sacrifice; why would it be like that? Was the world just that _cruel_?

Cornello simply laughed cruelly. "And you call yourself a State Alchemist!? Don't make me laugh!"

"Shut up!" Edward shouted back, bitter and angry. "You're just a third-rate _hack_ who can't do anything without that stone!"

"I see, I see," Cornello mocked, "So _that's_ why you want the philosophers stone. Good idea, if you used _this_ , you might be able to transmute humans for _real_ , eh?"

"Don't get the wrong idea, baldy!" Edward snapped. "The reason we want the stone is to get our original bodies back. Besides, we still don't know if it'll even be able to _that_ ,"

"Father, I'll ask you again," Alphonse requested softly. "Give us the stone before you get hurt,"

Cornello just laughed, as if they had told him the punchline to a good joke. "You fools are the one's who came too close to god and fell to Earth!" He shouted, his philosopher's stone lighting up with red sparks, as he touched his cane, transforming it. "If that's the care, then this time I'll make sure to send you to god _permanently_!" He declared, pointing his alchemically transformed cane, revealing it to be a machine gun. He let a stream of bullets shoot out, flying towards Edward, Alphonse, Winry, and Rose in streams. Al shielded Rose with his body, while Ed and Winry got engulfed in the dust.

But when the dust faded, he saw only a stone wall with bullet holes in it, Edward and Winry standing safe behind it.

"Sorry, god doesn't like me very much," Edward teased the false prophet. "Even if I went, he'd probably chase me away!"

Cornello scowled. "Why you!" He shouted out, aiming the gun at the group of kids once again, and letting the bullets fly at them again. Alphonse picked up Rose bridal style, using his armored body to shield her from the incoming bullets. Ed, meanwhile, hustled Winry in front of himself, and let his right arm drag behind himself for extra protection.

"Come on!" He shouted out at them, running towards the exit door. 'Let's get out of here!"

"Fools!" Cornello laughed. "The exit is rigged! Only I can open it from up here!"

"Is that so?" Edward said smugly, clapping his hands together, and throwing them onto an empty wall, creating a door of his own.

It was tinted with a reddish brown, while ornate details swirled around either side, with the center being a bull skull, it's horns creating door handles. It was an incredibly terrible style, but that's how Edwards taste have always been, since he was a small child.

"WHAT!?" Cornello screamed in shock, while the Elric crew and Rose escaped through the newly created door.

"If there's no door, then I'll make one!" Ed declared, the group of kids all running to freedom.

"Don't just stand there! Go after them!" Cornello demanded, running through the door that Edward had created. "They're pagans who want to destroy our religion! Get them! Hurry!"

Never before had Cornello been so glad to have had soundproof walls.

A line of guards blocked off the Elric crew from running down a hallway. They observed their opponents and laughed. A boy who looked like he was twelve, and a little girl. The suit of armor looked somewhat dangerous, but it's hands where full with one Rose Thompson, so they didn't really worry about him too much.

"They're they are!"

"Hey, you! Stop!"

"Hey, you little kids, are you gonna try to take us _all_ on?"

"Might as well give yourselves up before you get hurt,"

Edward just laughed, clapping his hands together and pressed them to his forearm plate on his automail, transforming it into a full-on sword.

The guards screamed, and where treated to an onslaught of Edwards new weapon, the stone boxing gloves still on Winry's hands, and the powerful kicks of the suit of armor.

The men around the corner shuttered as they heard their buddies getting the crap beat out of them. "Er, um, they're strong!" One of the guards tried to pep talk. "Don't let your guard down just because they're kids!"

Just as he said this, the armored boy kicked him in the head, shouting out "'scuse us," as he went through.

The guard fell to the ground, thinking "that's not fair," before he lost consciousness.

As the kids ran through the hallway, Al had lost a bit of grip on Rose, and had transferred his hold to a single arm tucked around her waist. Edward had deconstructed the stone gloves on Winry's hands, and she pressed her arm onto the still-bleeding scratch she got from the fight with the chimera, once they noticed she was leaving a minuscule trail of the blood.

The kids ran past an open office, which Edward took enough interest in to stop himself in his tracks. "Huh, what's this?" He asked.

"The broadcasting room," Rose informed them. "This is where Father Cornello delivers his sermons over the radio,"

"Oh really," Edward hummed, a smile on his face as an idea popped into his head.

Al sighed. "Uh-oh, he's got a _bad_ idea,"

* * *

Alphonse had taken Rose to the rough to help set up the plan, while Winry and Edward stayed in Cornello's office to work out they're part.

Edward had found a first aid kit in one of Cornello's drawers, and began to clean off Winry's scratch across her collar bone.

"Really, Ed," Winry assured him, "It's nothing. It just looks worse then it actually is,"

She was right, with the scratch being thin, but Edward carefully covered it with a strip of bandage anyways. "We can't just leave it open, though," Ed told her. "It might get infected,"

He let out a sigh, and settled onto Cornello's desk, while Winry leaned against it next to him. "Sorry for freaking you out," Winry apologized.

"Don't be," Ed told her. "I was the one who let the stupid cat sneak up on me. I never understood Al's appeal for those damn animals anyways,"

"Dogs will always be better than cats," Winry declared. Edward laughed, wholeheartedly agreeing with her.

Winry looked a bit melancholy. "I hate having to relive _that_ day," Winry said sadly. "I honestly thought that you where going to die,"

Ed laughed. "You can't get rid of me that easily!" He joked. "Besides, you made an excellent human bandage,"

Winry smiled slightly. "At least it's almost over," Winry hummed. "We'll get that philosopher's stone, get our bodies back, then go home to granny's for a good old bowl of stew! And I'll be able to eat it all by myself _without_ someone feeding me!" She cheered.

"That'll be great, wouldn't it!" Ed agreed. The two fell into a comfortable silence. "Say, Winry," Ed asked her. "What's the first thing you want to do when we get our bodies back?"

Winry hummed. "I guess all I really wanna do is hold my grandma's hands again," Winry said simply. "What about you, Ed?"

"Well, I'm probably gonna give Alphonse the biggest bear hug he's ever had," Ed laughed. "But other than that, I'm not sure,"

Winry just shrugged. "Well, we won't have to think about it for much longer if everything goes right. We'll get that philosopher's stone, and be good to go,"

"Al's probably gonna have to get used to being in a human body again," Ed contemplated. He paused for a moment, before suddenly perking up. "Hey, you know what I wanna do when we get our bodies back?" He said.

"What?" Winry prompted her friend, encouraging Edward to continue.

"I want us to _all_ go on a bike-ride around Resembool," He told her. "You, me, Al, granny, and we can cart Den with us in a wagon or something,"

Winry giggled. "That's the best idea ever!" She declared. "Al would probably love it!"

"He sure would!" Ed laughed. "Now we just have to figure out where the hell we're gonna get that many bikes in _Resembool_ of all places,"

* * *

It was only a few minutes past six o'clock, and the church bell was supposed to be chimed. The man who was supposed to chime it was at a loss for what was going on, telling himself, "there's a lot of noise down there today, isn't there?", looking up into the bell tower, just not understanding what was going on.

His name was Joshua. He was Delilahs older brother, and had a small rivalry with her, due to volunteer work.

The two siblings volunteered at the church at the same time, but Delilah got the better jobs. She was Cornello's personal assistant. She did his secretary work, ran errands for him, collected donations during services, and was overall kept so busy that she had to skip work. Joshua on the other hand, was only given one job; ring the goddamn bell at six o'clock. And currently, he couldn't even do that job.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Snapped one of his fellow volunteers; Matt, his best friend. "It's _way_ past the time when you're supposed to ring the bell!"

Matt was slightly exaggerating. It was only less than five minutes past the time, but the bell-ringing was still an important job, that Joshua wasn't supposed to mess up. "The bell," Joshua attempted to explain in mild shock.

"Huh?" Matt questioned, looking at Joshua's dumbfounded face.

"The bell's gone," Joshua explained.

Matt took a minute to let that register in his head. "Say WHAT!?" He then exclaimed in shock.

"Oh no," Joshua cried. "Father Cornello's gonna fire us! And I'll never be able to prove that I'm a competent big brother to Delilah!"

"Calm down!" Matt snapped. "He won't fire us if he doesn't find out. Just say you took a sick day, and I'll blame Harold from downstairs,"

"But Harold doesn't deserve to get fired!" Joshua protested. "He's trying to get his dead wife back! If he get's fired Leto will _never_ grant him his wish!"

"Fine! Then we'll blame Reggie," Matt relented. "The guy's a no-good slacker anyways,"

Alphonse, meanwhile, carried the stolen bell down to a deck on the tower, placing it onto the floor and grabbing some chalk, ready to set up the transmutation for the next phase of his brother's plan.

"About what you were saying before," Rose said sadly. "i can't believe you have to do all that to perform Alchemy,"

"I told you," Al replied, "the foundation of Alchemy is the _Equivalent Exchange_ ," He drew a transmutation circle around the bell, the white powder etching onto the pavement. "To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost," Al told Rose. "People call my brother a genius, but the reason he's so good at it is he paid the price, and worked so hard.

"But, because you sacrificed so _much_ , you must have been able to bring back your mother!" Rose cried, grasping on loos straws, holding onto something - anything - that could possibly give her some hope, that maybe - just _maybe -_ if she gave up enough, she'd be able to bring her lover back to life. But Alphonse just shook his head.

"The thing we brought back wasn't even human anymore,"

And Rose felt the weight crush her. Alphonse had felt it to, when he had sat in the hollow suit for the first time, while Winry desperately clung to Edward, hoping to keep him from bleeding out.

 _"No!" Alphonse cried. "How did this happen!? Big brother, your theory was flawless!"_

 _"Yeah," Edward agreed, his voice small and haunting, barely audible over Winry's loud sobs. "There weren't any mistakes in the theory,_

 _"We were the ones… who made the mistake,"_

"We've given up on transmuting humans," Alphonse told the older girl. "But my brother and Winry still want me to get my original body back. I want to make _their_ bodies the way they where too," Alphonse finished the circle with a fluid white line. "But like I said before, the risk are high, so we might end up even worse, or lose our lives. That's the way things are in this business,"

Al finally stood up from his finished circle, looking Rose directly in the eye. Edward and Winry where plagued by nightmares of that day. They suffered pain, threw themselves headfirst into hardship, walked through hell and continued to walk through it. But they did it for him, and for each other. And Alphonse would forever do the same for them.

But they could've avoided it! They could've simply heeded the warnings, considered the consequences, just have been a little less _arrogant_. But they didn't. And they hurt themselves because of it.

The pain of letting go of a loved one was difficult to endure. But by _god_ , was it much better for everyone to just endure that pain, and not try to do the impossible.

"Rose," Alphonse finally said, taking in the older girl. The grieving girl who couldn't think of a life without the boy she lost. But she didn't see, she didn't _know_ , how _sad_ it would make the town of Lior, the entire town that had collectively adopted her after her family died, to see her go through the kind of pain she would go through if she committed the taboo. "That's why you can't choose this path,"

* * *

Cornello rushed around the the church halls, looking for the Elric crew. He had been following a trail of Winry's spilled blood from the chimera fight, but had long since lost it.

It was around seven thirty. The townspeople would be tuning into their broadcast right about now. To bad they where going to just have to wait.

Cornello finally found Edward and Winry sitting in the broadcast room. Edward was still only wearing half his shirt, since his coat was long-since forgotten in the battle against the chimera. Winry had her jacket off, and it sat on the desk. Her wound was covered with a bandage strip that looked like it had come from Cornello's medical box.

 _Those jackasses!_ He thought. _First they try to ruin my plans, and_ now _they steal from my first-aid box!_ He looked over to his table where his now-cold tea still sat, and the novel he was reading laid on the chair. _At least they didn't touch my book_.

"You little brats!" He shouted at the two kids, wheezing. "You're no getting away!"

"Just give up, will you?" Ed groaned out, feeling 100% done with Cornello's shit. He just wanted to grab the stone, and go home. He needed a bath anyways. The wether in Lior had produced an entire buckets-worth of sweat on his body. "News of your trickery will spread throughout the town in no time, anyways,"

"Shut up!" Cornello shouted. "Everyone within the church is under _my_ direct control! They'd never believe a stupid follower if she contradicted me!" He declared.

"You sure about that?" Winry asked. "I mean, the entire town _loves_ Rose, once they find out that you tried to kill her, they won't be happy,"

"So what!?" Cornello snapped. "Those fools all lay in the palm of my hands; I can tell them anything! I can _do_ anything, in fact! I'll just _kill_ the bitch before she can say anything, and blame her death on you!"

"No, that's not a way to treat your loyal followers," Ed berated the man. "I feel sorry for them; they care about you so much, yet you care about them so little!"

"Followers are just pawns to use for _war!_ " Cornello snapped. "I don't have the to be sorry for mere _pawns_! If I ask them to, they'll die happy and fulfilled, believing that they did it for god! I'll mass-produce them! _Limitless_ fanatics, from the masses of idiots who can't even tell alchemy from miracles!" Cornello once again started to do his villain laugh. Winry and Edward exchanged disbelieving looks. He was so lame! And he would be their final villain too before they would be able to get their hands on the philosophers stone. Why couldn't he be cool? "Did you think that you two could stop my plans so easily!?" Cornello shouted, making his audience nearly roll their eyes in disbelief that he was still continuing to monologue. "You underestimated the power of blind faith!"

Edward and Winry couldn't take it anymore. They burst into laughter. Ed hunched over, his ribs beginning to ache, but he couldn't stop. Winry was practically rolling on the floor, tears of mirth streaming from her eyes. It was just so goddamn _funny_ how idiotic their opponent, their Bad Guy, was.

"What's so funny!?" Cornello shouted, unhappy that he was being mocked.

"That's why I keep saying your a _third-rate_ , baldy!" Edward laughed.

Cornello continued to grimace as he watched them continue to laugh at him. This boy was so ridiculously small he looked at _least_ three-quarters of his age! This girl was a stupid teen, who should be worrying about her makeup and shit, not doing whatever the hell she was doing! It was absolutely humiliating to watch _these_ kids laugh at him! "You dare insult me, you little brats!" He shouted at them.

However, Edward held up a switch. "Know what this is?" He almost sang.

Cornello looked down at the floor and noticed a microphone at his feet. He observed the switch that Edward was holding, which was currently on. It was only a few minutes past 7:30, broadcast time. It suddenly clicked into his head what those kids had done.

"YOU LITTLE SHITS!" He shouted out at them, for all the town to hear. His confession was heard all over the radio, and for whoever happened to not be close enough to one (which was kinda impossible, since the town had radio's just about everywhere, but one couldn't be too careful), they would here it from Alphonse's bell, which he had transmuted into a megaphone.

Everyone heard it. A twelve-year-old girl was left frozen in her tracks, while her grandmother, who she was giving food to, sat open mouthed in her chair, as the two heard the reveal from their home. The guards who worked for Cornello heard it all throughout the church, suddenly rethinking their lives. The shopkeep was pouring a man some coffee when he heard the message, and had accidentally let the cup overflow as he continued to pour, eyes wide with shock. Catherine merely groaned, the effects of the champaign wearing off into a hangover, while she tried to reach for a glass of water that the shopkeep was about to give her, but had left it too far away from her hands to grab. The people in the streets looked up towards the church, Delilah frozen in her place, feeling shocked that Cornello was not only lying to the town but also planned to _kill her roommate and accuse_ children _of doing so_ in order to cover up the lie. Even the dog, who was standing not to far away from Delilah, near her owners feet, looked as if it was shocked by the reveal. It was everywhere. The town heard it. The town knew. Cornello's plan had officially failed.

"How long has that switch been on!" Cornello shouted, his voice coming in through the radio's everywhere.

"From the very beginning," Edward said joyously. "You just exposed your entire plan,"

"Even if your able to lie your way out of this one," Winry hummed smoothly, "I'm pretty sure that _some_ of those words you said would not be forgotten,"

"Wha!?" Cornello cried out in shock. "Wha!? What!?" Veins busted out on his forehead as he reveled in his anger and annoyance. "You stupid brats! I'm going to kill you!"

He attempted to turn his cane into a machine gun like he had done earlier, but Edward and Winry where quicker. Edward transmuted his arm into a blade, while Winry morphed the desk into a wooden hammer over one of her hands. "Too slow!" Edward cried smugly, cutting the entire gun in half before it can be finished. "Didn't I tell you?! There's no comparison between us!"

"I won't…" Cornello muttered, before shouting, "I won't give up! As long as I have this stone I can make miracles again and again!" He shouted, while the broken gun blared out in red light, sparks almost exploding from it. Edward stepped back from the dangerous transmutation, throwing a protective arm in front of Winry to make sure she did the same.

Cornello suddenly screamed in shock and pain, as the stone rebounded, morphing his arm into something grotesque, while skin and flesh mixed savagely with the machine that was supposed to become Cornello's gun. It looked morphed and disfigured, like something from a horror movie.

"My arm! My arm!" Cornello cried out, "It hurts!"

Edward and Winry starred at the freaky spectacle with shock and distress. "Why…" Edward pushed out, horrified. "Why did it…"

He suddenly slammed his head against Cornello's, grabbing the man by the shirt. "SHUT UP!" He cried. "IT WAS JUST A REBOUND! DON'T MAKE A BIG DEAL OVER ONE OR TWO ARMS!"

"Edward! Stop!" Winry called out, her body shaking. "The stone! It shouldn't rebound!"

Edward ignored her. "The stone!" He shouted. "Let me see the philosophers stone!"

"Argue, my stone!" Cornello forced out, his voice strained, as suddenly the thing lost it's bright red hue.

The stone cracked, falling out of it's spot in the ring. It hit the ground in fragments, and tinkled away into dust, before simply ceasing to exist at all.

Edward and Winry looked at the sight they had just seen. "It broke?" Ed questioned. "How could this happen?! How could a 'pure substance' like the philosophers stone break apart!"

"I don't know, I don't know anything!" Cornello insisted, "Nobody told me a thing! Please, spare me. I was wrong!"

"It's a fake?" Ed muttered out, disappointment hitting his heart with the force of a bullet.

"I'm powerless without the stone! Help me!" Cornello continued to blabber, but Edward wasn't listening. He slowly walked away from Cornello.

"After coming this far, I thought we could finally go back to normal, and it's a _fake_!"

Edward fell to his knee's in gloom. They had come so far! So far! This wasn't fair! They really thought that they were gonna do it, gonna go back to normal! Al was supposed to pet Den! Winry was supposed to hold her grandmother's hand! They where all supposed to go on a bike-ride together! Go to college! Quite the military! Live a normal life, free from the nightmares! They where finally going to get out of that hell! But no. It had to skirt them. Had to throw them for a loop. Bring them right back to square one. It was like a punch to the gut.

Winry stood at the leftovers of Cornello's desk, her hand still covered with the wooden hammer. She looked just as dead inside as Edward did. "It's a fake," She muttered to herself, reeling from the destroyed hope she had. "Of corse it's a fake," She said in a near deadpan. "Why wouldn't it be? Just another thing to ruin our lives; the possibility of breaking the fake philosophers stone,"

Cornello smirked, looking at the two teens. They weren't paying an inch of attention to him. He laughed internally. _They're not paying attention to me! I'll get even with them even if it means giving everything to kill these two kids!_ He was about to run after them, but much to his dismay, Winry had taken notice of him.

"DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO KILL US AFTER ALL YOU PUT US THROUGH!" She snapped, boxing him in the head with her hammer hand. He fell to the floor unconscious.

Winry then let out a scream. "Not fair!" She shouted, stomping her feet. She knew she was acting like a child having a temper-tantrum, but she didn't care. She just felt disappointed, shattered, and foolish for even thinking that this mission would be the one. After three years of false leads, she thought she would know better.

"What the hell," Edward muttered. "This world _loves_ to think of new ways of screwing us over, doesn't it?" Ed choked out. He then stood up. "We should probably go. We need to find Catherine and leave before the disgruntled townspeople start to riot,"

He clapped his hands together, and dissolved the hammer that Winry had made for herself. She let out a sigh, hanging her head in disappointment. Edward frowned. The disappointment of a false lead was bad enough, but seeing the defeated look on Winry's face just made it worse.

He reached up and gave her a pat on the head, causing some of the bangs she had pinned back to fall over into her face. "Don't give me that look, Win," Ed demanded, putting on a smile for her. "We'll figure out a way to get back to normal soon! Just you wait!"

Winry slowly nodded, rubbing her eyes with her arm, even though she hadn't been crying, despite feeling very close to. If Edward was honest, he wanted to cry right then and there as well, but he refused to do it. If Alphonse couldn't cry, then he wouldn't either.

The two kids met up with Alphonse outside the church. Al could already tell by the sad looks on their face that the lead they had hunted down turned up dry, but he needed to hear them say it anyways. They slowly explained what happened to Alphonse, who sat there in disbelief the entire time, feeling hopeless.

"It's a fake?" He almost laughed. Of corse it was! Why wouldn't it be!?

"Yeah, it was all a waste of time," Edward confirmed, trying to transform his despair into simple annoyance. That emotion he could deal with. That emotion didn't weigh on his soul and remind him of how much he failed. "Just when I thought we were finally boing to be able to get your old body back,"

"We need to worry about _you two_ first," Alphonse insisted. "Winry can't live properly in her condition, and automail has a lot of problems,"

"Well it doesn't matter _who_ we worry about first _now_ ," Winry spat out, angrily. "Cause apparently the world just _loves_ to screw us over,"

"We'll be fine," Ed told her, standing up and wiping the dust off his pants. "We'll just look someplace else. We've got to find it eventually,"

"But…" Came a meek voice. The trio looked over to see Rose, sitting in the dust on her knees. They had almost forgotten she was there. "This can't be…" She whispered. "What am I gonna do? He's never coming back!"

Edward sighed. "You've got a lot of people in this town that care about you, Rose," He told her. "You should go to them,"

"But," Rose cried, tears dripping from her eyes. "I loved him! He can't be _gone_! He was supposed to come back to _life_!"

"The dead stay dead, Rose," Winry told her calmly. "I hate it too, but that's the way it is,"

"But what do I do!" Rose cried. "That hope was all I had, what am I supposed to believe in now!?" The nineteen-year-old shouted in despair. This reality. This cruel, harsh reality. She didn't want this! She _loved_ him so much! She _needed_ him! He was her whole world! He couldn't have just been _taken away_ from her like that! "Are _you_ going to tell me?" She asked them desperately. "Well, are you!?"

"You need to figure that out on your own," Edward told her softly. The words seeped right through her body and into her soul, ringing loudly. "Stand up and walk," Edward told her. "Keep going forward. At least you have strong legs to take you there,"

The three of them walked away, while Rose continued to cry. But she would listen to them. And she would figure out how to move forwards. She would do this because she had to. And she had to because she was human.

The children picked up Catherine, and hopped on the earliest train they could that would take them out of the city. They felt crushed, but they wouldn't dwell on it. They were used to the foul taste of disappointment, and they would move forwards. They would keep moving until they finally reached their goal. It was what they would do. And nothing would stop them.

* * *

The townspeople charged the front of the church, all shouting angrily, demanding that Cornello come out and face them. They where angry for his lies, angry for the false hope that he had given them, and angry that he was planning to _use_ them as cannon fodder. His lies, his words, his thievery. How can someone who had given them such hope turn out to be a man like that!?

Cornello wondered though his church, his disfigured arm still throbbing with pain, and his head ached from where Winry had hit him. He wished he had the foresight grab an ice pack, but his chance to get his hands on it was up. He simply contented himself with lumbering back to his room, homing to make a new plan; salvage something, anything, from the pieces that the Elric crew had destroyed.

"Damn it!" He murmured, bursting in through his door. "I can't believe that _runt_ ruined my plans! I won't allow it!" He declared, walking past the chimera, which was dead, with it's skin torn off it's bones, revealing the poor creatures rib cage. Cornello could've _swore_ that the beast was alive the last time he saw it. "I've invested too much in this to let it fall apart,"

"Really, you where _so_ close, and now everything's ruined," Said a voice from the room.

The voice was alluring and dangerous, with a sharp edge. It belonged to a woman who was currently stationed in the room.

She was beautiful and sexy. She had curves like nobody else, and large breast and hips that one couldn't help but stare at. Her raven-colored hair was long and curly, falling over her beautiful, pale face. Her eyes where garnet red, sitting in eye-catching orbs. Her thin but plump lips where covered in a dark red stain, which was the same color as a tattoo that sat at the center of her chest. She was clothed in a long black dress, which was strapless, and hugged both her curves and her breast. Black boots covered her feet, while a pair of black gloves sat atop her shoulders, dropping down and over her hands. She was beautiful, and dangerous.

She was leaning up against a large man. He was extremely fat, with legs that looked as if they couldn't possibly carry that much weight, extremely long arms, which also held a large amount of flesh on them, and a head that seemed to grow up from his body without any sort of neck. His eyes where like little white circles glued onto his face, and his cheeks blended into his smooth, hairless head. He was chewing on the leg of the dead chimera. So that's what happened to it.

"Long time no see," The woman greeted the false priest. "Wish it was longer. You've caused a lot of trouble, your holiness,"

"What is the meaning of this!?" Cornello shouted at his providers. "The philosopher's stone that you gave me broke into pieces! How _dare_ you give me a fake!"

"Please," The woman mocked, looking board with his very presence. "Did you think we would hand over the real thing to a person like you?"

"You— You said that I would be able to take over this country by using this stone!" Cornello cried, angry that he had gotten screwed over.

"Hmmm," The woman hummed, her voice holding a seductive tune to it. "I _did_ say something like that, didn't I?" She continued, as if she had forgotten. "All we wanted was for you to cause a little bit of chaos in this region. That's all," She informed him.

Cornello looked shocked. They _used_ him?! _Him!?_

"What?" The woman laughed. "You look surprised. Did you really think that a third-rate despot like yourself could become the ruler of a country?!" Lust began to bust out in giggles. "You're really too much!" She cried.

"Hey, Lust, can I eat this old guy?" Asked the fat man. His voice was somewhat childish, as if he where some sort of toddler trapped inside the body of a man. "Can I?" He asked excitedly.

"No, no, Gluttony," The woman, Lust, refused her partners odd request. "You're going to get a stomach ache if you eat the likes of him! If you eat this third-rate, no, this _forth-rate_ fool—"

Before Lust could continue, Cornello shouted out, "Your making me! You and everybody else!" as he went in to attack her.

Lust sighed, annoyed. Who did he think he was?

A simple extension of her fingers, and Lust created a hole through the mans head. Cornello didn't even have time to think any last thoughts. He was just gone.

"You, are no longer of any use," Lust said with a smile, contracting her fingers back to normal size, as Cornello's dead body fell to the floor, blood pooling out of the fatal stab wound. "Awww," Lust pouted, "And just when things were starting to go _so well_! Father will be furious,"

Gluttony wondered over to the dead man, who was still twitching. He pulled him up by his clothes, as blood continued to spill out from his head. Gluttony felt his craving for human flesh burn inside his stomach, the ever-consuming portal inside it lusting for _more_. He needed to eat. He needed to eat whatever he could get his hands onto! He needed to eat this man.

"So, what should our next plan be?" Lust asked her partner, only to find that, much to her dismay, he had sunk his teeth into the dead man's flesh, despite her orders. "Hey, I thought I told you not to eat that,"

* * *

 **And, done! I hope you guys enjoyed the read. I definitely enjoyed writing this! Tell me what you thought in a review! And if you have some thought about what could possibly happen in the future of this fic, feel free to tell me about them. Depending on how the story goes, you might see your predictions show up later.**

 **With that said, I'm really happy to be writing for FMA again. Words cannot describe how wonderful that series makes me feel, and how great of an impact it has had on me. I gotta say, Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the only stories I came across that ever made me glad to be human! This story made me grateful for the fact that I'm alive, and it serves as a constant reminder that I've got people in this world who care about me. In other words, I love it to no end, and I love writing fanfiction for it; especially fanfiction that requires me to read the manga again.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed. Leave a review. A good note, constructive criticism, whatever, just tell me things! Whatever enjoyment you found from this fic I would like to know about.**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey! I'm back!**

 **Sorry this chapter took some time to get out. I just started school, and we all know how school is.**

 **I enjoy writing this fic. It's a nice little level of catharsis from everything crazy that happens.**

 **This chapter is going to be another long one. But hey, who doesn't enjoy a long chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm not that fabulous**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Mining Town

* * *

It had been a week since the Elric crew had taken on their failed mission to Lior. Since then, they had briefly reported to their superior officer, Colonel Roy Mustang, before receiving their next mission; an inspection.

The kids had gotten pretty beat up during the Lior mission. Winry's cut had healed, leaving a thin scar. Other than that, both Ed and Winry had gotten a few bruises and carpet burns, plus all three kids just needed a mental break. So they where given a simple inspection; a mission that was pretty easy to handle, and needed to get done anyways, so the military figured that they would give the easy, non-dangerous job to the kids.

So, Edward, Alphonse, Winry, and Catherine sat on the train out to Youswell, a mining town that sat at the edge of Eastern Amestris. Past the small town, there was nothing but desert for miles, until one eventually reached the country of Xing.

The train ride was peaceful and quiet. But, that was because the train was practically empty.

"Looks like we're the only ones on board," Alphonse observed.

"I've heard the rumors, but I didn't know it was _this_ bad," Edward sighed. "Guess this isn't exactly tourist country,"

"The Youswell Coal mines," Winry hummed. "The town on the eastern boarder. Considering that there's nothing but desert here, I'm not surprised not many people come here,"

The train parked at the station, and the Elric crew exited. They looked around the town, where brick buildings and wells and mine carts decorated the sandy road. The sun was setting, so it wasn't as hot as it could've been, which was a relief for Edward, Winry, and Catherine, considering the clothes they where wearing. Though, Catherine did find it difficult to trudge through the sand with her heels.

"I told you to wear boots," Winry reminded her.

"And what?" Catherine protested. "Put these in a suitcase where they can get squished? No way! These shoes where passed down my family for generations, there's no way I'm gonna let them get ruined,"

"But the sand is ruining them more," Winry insisted.

Edward stopped at what looked to be a main juncture at the mine. "So, this is where we get coal," He stated curiously, somewhat impressed. "The wild frontier, eh?" He said, looking around. "I always thought a place like this would be a little more lively,"

"Everyone seems a little tired," Alphonse observed.

Suddenly, Edward was hit in the head by a boy carrying a pole of wood. "Oops! Sorry 'bout that," He told the kid.

The boy had sandy blonde hair, forest green eyes, and peach-colored skin. He was a bit sunburned in on his forehead and cheeks, as well as on his shoulders and arms. He wore workers overalls over a white T-shirt, was absolutely covered in all kinds of filth and dust, and had a ban-aid on his cheek. He was both younger and a smidge shorter than Edward. "Why you little—" Edward was about to snap at him, only to be interrupted by the boy joyously crying out;

"Hey! Your from out of town, right!? On a trip? Where you from? Need a meal? A place to stay? DAD! WE GOT CUSTOMERS!"

"Listen when people talk to you!" Edward snapped, who had barely been able to get a word out the entire time the boy was talking.

"Huh? What's that, Khayal?" Said an older man who was carting mining equipment across a structure. He looked exactly like his son, with the only difference between the two of them was the obvious age and hight difference, as well as the man's well-built muscles, and his goatee.

"Customers!" Khayal shouted. "A piggy bank!"

"What do you mean, _piggy bank_ ," Ed snapped.

"You don't say!" The boy's dad replied with a smile.

Before the Elric crew could register what was going on, they where herded into the inn.

The family who owned the inn were the Halling's. They're son, Khayal, was around ten years old, and already working in the mines (and already nearly as tall as Edward, much to the teens dismay). They where excited for customers, and treated them as one of their own. It was nice to finally be around people so friendly.

"Sorry about the dust," Mr. Halling apologized to the newcomers. "The mines don't pay very much, so we run this inn to get by,"

"What're talking 'bout chief?!" Laughed one of the miners boisterously, slamming his mug of beer onto the table, and wearing a large smile. " _Your_ problem is, you're a soft touch! Always giving what you make to the poor!"

"That's why your old lady's always crying!" Joked a different man.

"Keep it down, you!" Mr. Halling snapped, unhappy with the jab on his mother. "If you got a problem with how I spend my money, then hurry up and pay me what you owe for the booze!"

The dozens of laughs of boisterous men chimed throughout the little bar/inn. "This place is so friendly!" Winry laughed.

"It's a nice change of pace from all those other people trying to kill us," Edward agreed.

"So, there's four of you," Hummed a woman with light brown hair, and grey eyes; Mr. Halling's wife. "You want one nights stay and two meals each?" she asked them.

Edward nodded, the offer sounding reasonable. "How much?" He asked.

"What, afraid you can't afford it?" Mr. Halling challenged with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I brought enough," Ed told him with a shrug.

"400 thousand,"

Edward fell out of his chair.

"400 thousand!" He cried out, shocked. "What a rip off! Your off by one decimal point!"

"I _said_ you might not be able to afford it," Mr. Halling reminded the boy in a deadpan. "We don't get too many tourist, so when they come we try to make sure they leave us all their money,"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Ed scoffed. "We'll go somewhere else!"

As the boy was about to walk out, however, he was latched onto at the top of his head by Mr. Halling, who said in a scary voice, " _There's no escape, Piggy Bank,"_

"Forget about it," Khayal said to the group with a smile, "the prices are the same everywhere else,"

"We really don't have enough," Edward said sadly, checking his wallet. "Catherine, I wouldn't suppose _you_ happen to be carrying 400 thousand cense on you at the moment,"

"Nope," Catherine confirmed. "I don't really carry money around with me when I'm going out with you guys on your missions,"

"Of corse you don't," Winry grumbled.

"I guess the only thing we can do is use alchemy to turn pebbles into gold," Edward plotted evilly.

"You know it's forbidden by the State Alchemy Laws to make gold!" Alphonse chastised his older brother.

"If we don't get caught, we won't get caught," Edward whispered.

"Ed, your horrible," Winry deadpanned.

The group suddenly noticed the ten-year-old sitting by them. Listening into their conversation. About alchemically transmuting gold illegally.

"Dad!" He cried happily. "These guy's are alchemist!"

So, Edward clapped his hands together, touched a broken, rusted pick-axe, and not just fixed it, but made it look like new.

"This is great! Our first customer in ages, and they're Alchemist!"

"I used to dabble a little bit myself," Mr. Halling told the kids, handing them meals. "But I didn't really have the talent, so I gave up studying. I'll give you kids a special alchemist friendship discount, plus the amount I owe you for fixing the pick-axe,"

"Sounds good!" Ed cheered.

"All together, that's a 50% discount. 200 thousand,"

"I still don't have that much!" Edward squeaked out.

"Would you cut that price in half if we fixed more things?" Winry asked Mr. Halling.

"Of corse!" He said pleasantly. "Our old, rusty oven could always use a fix, and not to mention the support structure,"

"Consider it done," Winry said with a smile.

"Then 100 thousand it is," Mr. Halling settled.

Edward moaned at the price. "That's still a lot," He muttered.

"But you kids can eat up before you fix the things," Mr. Halling told them. "You guys seem good, but I don't imagine doing alchemy would be easy on an empty stomach. By the way, I didn't catch your names,"

"Oh, right," Ed remembered, about to dig into the food set in front of him. "Edward Elric,"

Mr. Halling suddenly swiped the plate of food away from the poor kid. "So your Elric, the Alchemist. The _State Alchemist_?"

It felt as if all the eyes in the bar where glaring at them. "Well, sort of," Ed said uncomfortably, reaching for a glass of tea that was in front of him. Mr. Halling took that away too. "Hey!" Ed snapped, confused, "What's the big deal!?"

All four members of the Elric crew where tossed out of the inn, with a demand to "Get lost,"

"Hey! We're paying customers!" Edward snapped, feeling rejected.

"Bleh," Mr. Halling scoffed. "We don't have food or lodgings for the dogs of the military!"

"Um, Winry, Catherine, and I," Alphonse spoke up, raising his hand. "We're just civilians. We're not a 'state' anything!"

"Oh, that's fine then! Come on in," Mr. Halling told the three with a smile.

"You traitor!" Ed cried in despair, as his brother stood up and headed towards the inn, Catherine trailing behind them. Winry, however, just stubbornly sat where she had been thrown out.

"Hey, little girl," Mr. Halling called out to her. "You coming in?"

Winry was silent for a few seconds, glaring at the ground as if she wanted to set it on fire, before she turned her dagger-like eyes towards Mr. Halling.

"No," She spat out. "I don't have _money_ for _bullies,_ who kick _kids_ out onto the streets,"

Mr. Halling narrowed his eyes at that comment, but decided to ignore her. _She_ was the one who'd be sleeping outside anyways. "Suit yourself," He said bitterly, before slamming the door on the two kids.

"Argue!" Winry shouted out into the cold nighttime air. "That makes me so angry!" She shouted.

"Winry, calm down, there's nothing you can do about it," Ed told her. "It's just a little bit of flack, I _expected_ to have that when becoming a state Alchemist," He sighed, placing a hand on his best friends shoulder, while she continued to bore a hole through the inn door with her glare. "Don't turn down a chance for a warm bed and a good meal with some friendly people," He commanded.

But Winry wouldn't budge. "Friendly, huh?" She scoffed, before marching up to the door, giving it a big kick. "YOU KICKED HIM TO THE CURB AND HE STILL THINKS YOUR _FRIENDLY_!" Winry shouted, her voice leaking into the inn. "He's a kid!" She shouted. "We're all just a bunch of damn kids! What kind of cruel bullies would do something like this to a _kid_! So what he's a dog of the military! He's doing this for us! He doesn't deserve this! He's a motherfucking kid!" She yelled at the people inside, kicking the door in a vicious pattern the entire time she spoke, before she simply shouted out in frustration, marched to the edge of the inns porch, and sat down in a huff.

Edward eyed his childhood friend cautiously. This was Winry. The medium between the two brothers. Who was more friendly than Edward could ever hope to be, but still took no shit. She would get frustrated and annoyed. She would lecture and scold. But she had never before gotten angry like this.

Edward sat down next to her, only to see that she was crying. "Winry?" He asked cautiously.

"I hate this," She told him. "I hate that you walk through hell and back for us only to be treated like _dirt_!"

Edward gave her shoulder a small squeeze. He had never been a huggy person, but ever since childhood, Winry had always felt better when given physical contact. Much to his dismay, however, she continued to cry.

"When we where in Lior, I thought we would finally be able to go back to normal," Winry continued to rant in despair, the words she had been choking in finally spilling out. "I was crushed, you know? How could I not be? But then we were welcomed into this town like old friends. After how hostile most people are towards us, it was a relief. But they're just like everyone else. They hate people like us just as much as the rest of the world does,"

"I don't know what to say to that," Edward hummed, looking melancholy. "I try not to think about it too much, but I guess we can't deny that the world definitely has it out for us,"

"It feels horrible," Winry confessed. She had stopped crying, but her eyes still had the stains from her tears. "Why can't something just go right for us once?"

The two fell into silence. Edward hated seeing Winry cry; always had, and always would. And more than that, he hated himself for what he did to her. Alphonse and Winry would have his back, no matter what he did. Why didn't he understand that? Why didn't he realize that if he went down, he would take the two of them down with him.

The thought of such a thing happening was so terrifying it made the teen boy want to puke.

"You should go inside," Ed told her. "It's cold out here,"

Winry shook her head. "I'm not going in there," She refused.

"I know you don't like what they did, Win, but you need to eat,"

"I'm fine," Winry snapped. "If the don't want your service, then they _won't_ be getting mine!"

Edward just sighed, giving up. He knew Winry all to well. She would _never_ listen to him after she put her foot down on something. And as much as Edward wanted to be sympathetic to the Halling's, because the pain of their rejection hurt a lot less when he believed he was kicked out for a good reason, he couldn't help but agree with Winry. Kicking a child out into the cold streets and leaving him to starve was pretty cruel.

* * *

Inside the inn, after Winry had finished shouting and kicking at the door, Mr. Halling was left in a bit of a sour mood. Yes, she did make him feel a bit guilty about kicking the kid out, but kid or not, it didn't matter. He was a part of the military, and the man would never offer up anything to someone in the military, even if he was just some kid.

"Damn brat," He muttered, the moment Winry's voice quieted down. "If she has a problem with this place she can take it up with her goddamn military,"

"Winry's just upset," Alphonse spoke out. "She's really protective of Edward and I,"

"That's an understatement," Khayal said bitterly. "She nearly broke our door with her temper-tantrum,"

"Did you just expect her to quietly accept that you threw her friend out?" Alphonse questioned calmly, and somewhat passive-aggressively. He wasn't going to start a fight, but he wasn't going to let these people insult Winry either.

"Well, you two did!" Khayal snapped, referring to both Al and Catherine.

Al just shrugged. "Winry isn't me,"

"And I'm only tagging along with them because they're paying me too," Catherine informed the ten-year-old.

"She's still a jerk, and _he's_ still a goddamn dog of the military!" Khayal argued back.

"Khayal, watch your language," Mr. Halling criticized.

Alphonse sighed. "You really hate state alchemist, don't you guys?"

"Of corse we do!" Khayal spat out angrily. "Everyone around here hates soldiers. This town's under the authority of Lieutenant Yoki, but all he cares about is making money,"

"I hear he spends it all on bribes to his superiors back in Central City," chimed in one of the miners.

"He even bought his way to being a lieutenant," Scoffed a different one.

"Used to be he just owned the coal mines, but he got greedy about moving on up," Said one of the older men.

"So this place is…" Alphonse concluded.

"Yep!" a man confirmed. "This is Yoki's private property,"

"That rat owns everything in this town!" A different man sneered. "We don't get paid enough to get by! Even if we complain to someone higher up on the chain, Yoki bribes them all, so _they_ won't help!"

"See?!" Khayal demanded angrily. "It sucks, huh?"

"And then there's the State Alchemist," Mr. Halling added in. "'Alchemist work for the people'; That's the slogan of the alchemist, the source of their pride. That girl you know; she said he's doing this for you guys? I don't know what she meant by that, and frankly, I don't care. I know they get a lot in exchange, but I can't forgive people who sell their souls to the military state,"

* * *

A large growl erupted from Edwards stomach. He glared at it, but it just growled again. He look a glance to his left, where Winry had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He really didn't want his stomach to wake her up. "Shut up," He told it. "Al might have abandoned us, but we will not take it out on Winry," The dammed body part simply growled again. "I told you to shut it," He said halfheartedly. Honestly, he was feeling pretty upset. He was down in the dumps, still reeling from Winry's emotional outbreak, the sting of rejection still hung onto him, and to top it all off, he was hungry and cold. "Damn you Al," Edward muttered. "Have you lost your humanity so soon!"

The familiar sound of metal clanking against metal alerted the starving boy to his brothers presence. To make things even better, a tray of food was held out in front of him.

Edward looked up gratefully to see both Alphonse and Catherine smiling at him. "We snuck out with the food they gave us," Al told him.

Edward tackled his brother in a hug, forgetting about the sleeping Winry, as he shouted praises to his little brother in joy.

"Sheesh, you're so predictable," Alphonse muttered.

Winry opened her eyes, woken up from her sleep, and turned towards the three other members of her crew. "Is that food?" She asked.

Alphonse told Winry and Ed what he had found out about the town, and why the people there hated the military. Edward chewed on the hamburger Al had snuck out, while Catherine held a second burger to Winry's lips every so often, prompting her to take a bite. She hated being hand-fed, but she dealt with it.

"Hmm," Edward spoke out once Al had finished talking. "These corrupt official types are everywhere, huh,"

"I guess," Al confirmed. "Thanks to this guy, they don't even get enough food supplies,"

"So?" Winry snapped bitterly. "It doesn't matter what you've been put through, still doesn't give anyone the right to act like a jackass,"

"Winry," Al attempted to calm her.

"Don't 'Winry' me," The girl snapped. " _Nothing_ gives them an excuse for what they did to Edward! I don't care if the military leaves them in the dust, you _don't_ treat a child like that!"

"But it does make sense they wouldn't like people like me," Edward reasoned.

Winry simply scoffed. "What's a kid supposed to do, anyways? It's not like someone our age can possibly have enough military influence to make an entire town miserable. We didn't do _anything_ to them. They're just being petty, and cruel,"

"Honestly, I can't blame Winry for thinking like that," Edward finally confessed. "I gotta admit, finding out they hate me this much? Kinda sucks ass,"

"Maybe if we were adults it would be easier," Winry mused. "But I hate feeling like nobody cares for us,"

"Nobody does," Catherine told them. "I'm twenty-eight years old. By all means, I'm considered an adult. But I hate feeling unloved just as much as the next person. I can't say I've been through as many rejections as you three have, but I can still understand,"

Al laughed. "Yeah, I guess it will always kinda suck. Maybe I should've become a state alchemist too, then you wouldn't have to endure this kinda stuff alone, brother,"

"It's not worth it!" Edward just laughed. "One person sitting on this bed of needles is enough!"

The four fell into a silence, the only sound disrupting it was the occasional sound of Edward or Winry chewing their food.

"Dogs of the military, huh?" Edward spoke up after a while. The nickname given to the state alchemist. A humiliating nickname if there ever was one, but Edward tried to take it in pride. "I don't know what to say to that,"

"Not only that," Alphonse whispered, his voice melancholy. "But we broke the laws of Alchemy, and now we're stuck with these bodies. I wonder what our teacher would say if she ever found out?"

The three of them shuddered. "She'd kill us!" They concluded without a doubt.

"Out of the way! We're coming in!" Shouted a clipped and narcissistic voice, interrupting the Elric crew's conversation. Into the Halling's in stepped Lieutenant Yoki.

Yoki was a greasy man, with beady little eyes, a hooked nose, and a small tuff of black hair atop a receding hairline, and a string-like mustache poking out from either side above his lips, which were in themselves thin, and set into what looked like a permanent grimace. It was weird how much he looked like a hairless weasel. Standing besides him where two equally greasy-looking guards, all three of them dressed in crisp, freshly ironed blue military uniforms.

"Place looks filthy as usual, Halling," Yoki told him, dabbing the dirt off his upper lip with a handkerchief.

"Well, well, Lieutenant," Mr. Halling said bitterly, glaring daggers at the slimy man. "What brings you to a shabby little place like this?"

"Enough small talk," Yoki demanded, putting his handkerchief away. "I hear you're late on your taxes. I know you're not the only deadbeat in this town, but don't expect me to just ignore you,"

"I'm very sorry," Mr. Halling said gruffly through clenched teeth. "But we're barely getting by as it is,"

"Humph!" Yoki scoffed, looking around the bar at all the men glaring at him. "I see you still can afford to sell alcohol. I guess that means I can lower your salary a bit more?"

The people in the bar cried out in outrage. Khayal got so angry he threw a dirty dish rag at Yoki's face, shouting out, "You better be joking!"

"You little brat!" One of Yoki's men snapped at the ten-year-old. "Sir," He said to Yoki, "allow me!"

Yoki slapped the poor child across the face, knocking the poor boy to the floor with the sheer ferocity of it.

"Khayal!" His dad screamed out in distress, reaching out for his son.

"I won't hold back just because he's a child," Yoki informed the man, signaling for his guard to enact the punishment.

The guard drew out his sword, swinging it towards the boy, planing to leave a giant gash across the kids face. "Let this be a warning," Yoki said, while Khayal desperately threw his hands in front of his face to protect it, while his parents cried out to their son in shock. However, the sound of metal echoing against metal was heard across the room as the sword snapped in half. Standing in front of the young boy was Edward Elric, having protected the child with a sharp move of his right arm.

"Where did this kid come from!?" Yoki practically screamed in shock, while Al, Winry, and Catherine attempted to make their way into the inn.

"Just a kid passing through," Edward said, sipping his tea, which he had brought inside the place with himself. He felt a swell of happiness that he was able to use a similar cahchfrase to that of his teacher.

"This is none of your business!" Yoki snapped at the teen. "Stay out!"

"Well, I heard that the Lieutenant was gonna be here," Edward explained, fishing around in his pocket, and taking out his silver pocket watch. "So I decided to say hello,"

"Eh, whats this?" Yoki hummed to himself, observing the watch. He suddenly found himself reeling. _A silver watch with the Fuhrer's crest and the hexagram!_ He thought to himself.

"Lieutenant, who is this brat?" One of his men asked, only to receive a bonk in the head by his superior officer.

"You idiot!" He snapped loudly, before leaning in to whisper, "Don't you know what a State Alchemist is!? They work directly for the Fuhrer!"

"You're serious?" The guard whispered back. "Not that little runt?!"

"This is my chance," Yoki whispered, leaving the young alchemist to stand to the sidelines, watching them whisper. _I thought I heard 'runt'_ Edward thought, feeling annoyed.

"Huh?" His guard replied, confused.

"If I make an impression here, I might be able to make some connections at central!"

"Wow, your really on top of things, Lieutenant!"

Yoki slithered his way over to the boy, wearing a smile that was just as greasy as the rest of his face. "I'm sorry if my subordinates where impolite. My name is Yoki, and I'm in charge of this town. It must be fate that we met here! There's no need for you to stay in this pig-pen! Even though we're far from the city, we have some _lovely_ rooms back at my house!"

"Well, I guess that would be all right!" Edward laughed, happy to have gotten a bed to sleep in. "Because the owner here is too _cheap_ to let me stay!"

Edward grabbed Winry by her wrist and excitedly pulled her out of the inn. He knew she wouldn't stay there if her life depended on it, so he thought it best to take her to Yoki's place with him. "Come on, Win!" He cheered, "We're staying in a mansion tonight!"

Yoki turned to the residents of the inn as he followed the Edward and Winry out of the building. "Listen here you lowlifes!" Yoki snapped at them. "I'm going to make you pay every penny of the taxes that you owe me! I'll be back!" And with that he slammed the door.

Khayal shouted out in frustration. "That makes me so _mad_!" He screamed.

"Um, mad at who?" Al questioned, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Both of them!" The others shouted.

It was karma, wasn't it!? They refuse a kid who worked for the military, knowing that he wouldn't lift a finger to help them out of their predicament, only for not only the kid get to go and stay in a mansion, but the one guy they hated most meet the one contact he needed to make it big in the military. It was simply unfair.

"Yeash," Mr. Halling muttered to himself. "That stupid girl. She nearly beat my door off it's hinges, and now she's getting exactly what she wants,"

Honestly, it was easier to be mad at Winry, who had made such a big deal out of it, then Edward, because being mad at a state alchemist did nothing but leave them with stomach aches.

* * *

As much as he hated to admit it, Catherine was _much_ better at giving Winry assistance than Edward was. He was trying to fix Winry's hair and place her bangs back in it's clip, and was failing miserably. Eventually he managed to pin the majority of her yellow strands, but it still looked sloppy.

"It's fine, Edward," Winry told him when he looked a little disappointed on his bad job.

"Your hair is so hard to work with!" Edward complained. "How can you handle having straight hair, it never wants to move!"

"Not everyone can have _fabulous_ curls like you, Edward," Winry laughed at him.

By "fabulous curls", she really meant a bushy rats nest. But that's what happens when _someone_ seldom washed his hair.

"Shut up," Ed moaned. "The girls back home in Risimbule would _die_ to have hair like mine!"

"Sure," Winry replied sarcastically.

Edward was going to go down to dinner and meet with the Lieutenant Yoki guy, while Winry had decided to stay up in the room Yoki gave her to stay in, and go to bed early. Her stomach was already satisfied by the burger Al and Catherine had snuck out for her, and Edward promised to bring her back a glass of water before he went to bed.

But both Edward and Winry knew that the main reason she didn't want to join Edward at dinner was because she didn't want anyone to see her being fed like some sort of toddler.

"This place is pretty nice," Edward brought up. "And the towns in such a dumpy state. No wonder they hate the military,"

Winry closed her eyes, feeling a headache come along. "Edward, if your trying to get me to change my opinion about those people, you may as well give up now,"

"I'm not trying to change anything," Edward told her, grabbing a chair, pushing it next to the one Winry was sitting in, and plopping down onto it. "I'm just saying that for my own sake,"

Winry nodded. She knew what he was feeling. "They where really nice to us before they found out," She mused.

"Uh-huh," Edward hummed back.

"They made us feel welcome," Winry continued. "It's really rare that someone takes the effort to make us feel welcome,"

"Yep,"

"Then just when we thought we'd get to have a nice night after everything, they kick us out,"

"It sucks,"

"Yeah, it does. And your trying to reason with yourself why such nice people would kick us out like that,"

"Because they hate the military," Edward answered.

"And because they can," Winry muttered angrily. "I think that's why I'm so mad. They can't do anything about the military because they don't have enough power, so they pick on a group of children. 'Cause what the hell are we gonna do to fight back? It makes me sick,"

"Let's try not to think about it," Ed told her. "I mean, look where we're staying! This place is cool! Sure, it's run by a slime-ball, but it's still cool!"

Winry just rolled her eyes. "Since when have _you_ been one to look on the bright side?"

"Since _you_ decided to let some petty actions by people we'll never talk to again get to you," Edward answered bluntly. "Look, I see your point. I _know_ what they did to us sucks, but remember what you said back in Lior? We've got each other and Granny. We don't need anything else,"

Winry frowned. "I guess I was just dumb enough to think we could rely one someone else,"

"Well, we can't, but that doesn't matter," Edward said assuringly, as he stood up, stretched out his arm, and walked towards the door, about to join Yoki at the dinner meeting. "I'm still gonna get you and Al back to normal, Winry," Edward promised. "And if the entire world is against us, I'll just beat my way through it until we accomplish our goal,"

And with that, he left. Winry sighed to herself. He had a way of making her feel better, even if his way was blunt and harsh. "I guess," Winry hummed. She was still angry with the people in Youswell, but, at least she wasn't taking it personally anymore.

* * *

Edward was given a dish of freshly cooked sausage, seasoned hardboiled eggs, and salted, crisp lima beans, all given to him with gravy and cloves. The meal looked delicious, smelled delicious, and looked at least three times as expensive to cook and serve than the Halling's measly meat patty shoved between old bread.

"There's no need to stand on ceremony," Yoki told the young boy in a polite but greasy manner. "Eat, eat,"

"You seem to eat very well," Ed observed, lifting one of the sausages to his mouth, feeling somewhat bad that he was getting the better meal. He knew exactly who this Yoki person was before he even heard the man utter a sentence, not just from the rumors Alphonse had told him, but from the way he walked and dabbed the handkerchief to his lip as if he where some sort of god-thing. "Although, the town as a whole seems less fortunate,"

"Well, I'm embarrassed to say that it takes us a long time to collect taxes," Yoki said, as if it excused the whole matter. Ed was beginning to wonder why the townsfolk where even staying in this lousy town. "Plus there are many thugs like the ones you saw earlier," Yoki made a small laugh. "It's all very embarrassing,"

"The people pay you taxes because you own the rights to this place," Edward said, taking a bite of the sausage, disappointed to find that it was cooked in that weird way that rich people seemed to enjoy but the rest of the world hated. "That's how it works, isn't it?

"Absolutely," Yoki confirmed. "You see matters rather clearly, Sir Edward,"

 _Goddamn it I hate flattery_. Edward thought bitterly. "Of corse. It's the same as alchemy. The way of the world is _Equivalent Exchange_ " Edward hummed thoughtfully. He liked to blame this way of the universe for why their lives where so shitty.

Winry, however, thought that the three of them had paid _enough_ for their mistake the day they committed the taboo. She didn't understand why they had to keep paying even now. She didn't see it as equal, which was why she was so defensive of him. Edward thought he should be grateful to have someone like her on his side; someone who wouldn't take a beating like he would just because he thought he deserved it. But he also hated the way that she tried to lift the guilt from his shoulders, because he had no idea where she was trying to put it, and he wasn't going to even _risk_ the chance that she would try to carry it.

He also hated how much pain Winry put herself through because at this point, she saw their misfortunes as plain cruelty on behalf of the universes part, and not a well-deserved punishment.

But maybe he shouldn't blame her for thinking this way. After all, _she_ wasn't the one who ruined their lives. Edward fully believed with every inch of his self that _he_ was the one to blame. _Not_ Winry. And _not_ Al.

"You can't have rights without civic duty," Edward concluded.

"True, true. Yes, very well spoken," Yoki replied, as if oblivious to Edwards implications. "So that means you'll also accept _this_ as the way of this world?" He asked, ringing a bell. One of his soldiers came towards Ed, holding a sack of gold coins. There was about thirty of them in there, and would probably give Ed the equivalent of a half-a-years worth of food in cenz. "Sir Edward," Yoki explained. Ed was beginning to think the man wasn't so oblivious after all. "As a State Alchemist, I imagine you must have some influence with those higher up," The sack of coins was placed on the table in front of him. "Please, accept a token of my gratitude,"

Edward picked up the coin bag, giving it a small shake, an unamused expression plastered on his face. "This is what some would call a _bribe_ , is it not?"

"It's _gratitude_ ," Yoki corrected the young boy, as if there where some sort of difference. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a petty official in this country town," Yoki said, a strange sort of slime in his voice. "I'm sure we understand each other?"

The dinner meeting soon ended, and Edward was going to be escorted to his room. The one he was given was right across the hall from Winry's, but he was planning to just sneak into her room and sleep on one of the sofa's inside. He didn't exactly like the idea of Winry being alone in a place full of men who where both greasy and twice her size. Not like he thought Yoki would risk the chance of ruining his opportunity by assaulting a State Alchemist's companion, but Ed wasn't willing to take the chance.

"Well then," Yoki bid goodnight as Edward was about to be lead to his room. "Please, have a good night's sleep,"

"Thank you," Edward said, blaming the mansion for remembering his mother's long lecture he had received when he was a child on how he had to say "please" and "thank you" more often. If there was any sort of a heaven-like afterlife, Edward expected that one of the first thing's his mom would do when he saw her again would be to give him the lecture.

"Lieutenant," One of Yoki's men said to him, catching Edwards attention. He listened to their conversation closely.

"This isn't the first time we've had problems with the Halling's Inn," The soldier informed the shorter man. "Every night there's a bunch of loudmouths there, talking about stirring up trouble,"

"Hmph," Yoki muttered back. "The've always been rather rebellious haven't they? What a bother,

" _Burn it down_ ,"

* * *

Winry had fallen asleep, when, for the second time that night, she was woken up by Edward Elric.

"Winry," He told her, bursting into her room rather loudly, and giving her a rough shake. "Al and Catherine might be in trouble,"

* * *

When Edward and Winry arrived at the sight a little bit later that night, all that was left of the Halling's inn where a pile of bricks, burnt wood, and ashes. The people inside had gotten out safe. It'd been a great relief for Ed and Winry to see Alphonse and Catherine besides each other at the sight of the crime completely safe.

"How awful," A townsman said sadly, watching as Mrs. Halling cried right outside her little building, while her husband stood besides her, doing his best to stay strong for his family. "Last night I saw some of Yoki's underlings hanging out around the Inn,"

Khayal sat on the ground, looking completely defeated. Alphonse had been sitting next to the ten-year-old, so as a result the Elric crew ended up gathered around him. "Damn it," He said sadly, watching his mother hug the family Inn sign; the only real part left of the place. "what a dirty thing to do. The reason Dad tried to learn Alchemy was because he wanted to save this town,"

The boy looked towards Edward with hopeful eyes. "Hey, Ed. You're good enough to create gold, right? Can't you just whip ip some gold to help my Dad, and this town?"

Edward was about to refuse, knowing the money would go straight into Yoki's pockets. He wouldn't be helping them, he'd just be prolonging their suffering. It wasn't worth it. However, Winry spoke first.

"Oh, so _now_ you want his service!?" She snapped.

"Shut up!" Khayal snapped at her. "What do you know about any of this!? You don't have to struggle to live like _we_ do! If _you_ want something, you can just get your stupid boyfriend to make it!"

"WELL, I WANT ALPHONSE TO GET HIS BODY BACK, AND LOOK HOW THAT'S BEEN GOING FOR US!" She shouted. Suddenly, she realized what she had just confessed, in front of a large crowd of people. "Shit!" She cried, before running the opposite direction.

"Winry, wait!" Edward shouted, feeling the eyes of the people on him, hearing them question the words she just said. He had to explain. He had to keep his baby brother safe. Who knew what they would do to them now that they knew. "Catherine, go after her," He commanded, and Catherine ran off after their childhood friend without any hesitation, calling after her as she ran.

Edward turned to face the people of the town, swallowing whatever liquid there was in his dry mouth. Everyone was just staring at him. He didn't like that.

"If you've got something to say, then say it," Edward finally told them, turning his face from them, with a front of annoyance, and frustration. Feelings of anger had always been better than feelings of fear.

"What the actual hell?" Asked on of the bigger miners. The one with a bald head and a scruffy beard. Al was pretty sure his name was Nigel, or something.

"That doesn't really give me anything to go on," Ed snapped loudly, still refusing to look at the crowd.

"Ok, then," Nigel gritted out in annoyance. "I'll re-fraise myself. What the actual _fuck_ was your girlfriend blabbing on about!?"

Edward felt his blood boil at how disrespectful the man had talked about his friend, but decided to ignore it. They had bigger problems. "It's none of your goddamn business, that's what the actual fuck it is!" Edward shouted back, prepared to leave it at that.

Alphonse, however, took off the helmet of his armor with an exasperated sigh, revealing the empty space inside it. "It's just as Winry said it was," Alphonse explained, sounding frustrated. With how his brother was acting or how Nigel had just talked about Winry, Alphonse wasn't sure. Probably a bit of both. Definitely both. "I don't have a body,"

The entire crowd just stared in shock, nobody moving or speaking. Things began to click in the heads of the townspeople. Winry's anger, Catherine's presence (she was only there because they paid her to be, after all), why a kid actually wore a suit of armor like that, and why Edward, a fifteen-year-old boy, became a Dog of the Military in the first place.

"Huh," Mr. Halling said in disbelief. "I'll be honest, I did not expect that,"

* * *

Catherine had found Winry sitting by a brick wall a small distance from where they were. She had her knee's curled up to her chest, and her face buried into them.

"Miss Winry, it's me," Catherine greeted gently.

"Go away," Winry muttered. "I want to be alone,"

"Edward and Alphonse are worried about you," Catherine argued softly.

"I don't give a shit," Winry replied bitterly. "They'd be better without me," She said, finally looking up from her knees, her face contorted in frustration and anger and self-loathing. "Without me, they wouldn't have some dumbass who takes things to personally around to spill our secret,"

Catherine sat down next to Winry, a bit hesitant to do so because of the dirt, but she figured she could probably ask Winry to use alchemy to get all the dust out of her fur coat. "You made a mistake," Catherine told her gently, resting a hand on Winry's shoulder. "Your _human_. It's what we _do_ ,"

"I wish I just left Alphonse's stupid book sit in the dirt instead of bringing it to him. I never would've found out about Ed and Al's plans for human transmutation then," Winry cried out, words filled with bitter frustration. "They probably would've been safer without me, and I'd be at home with granny working on automail, not stuck with this life!"

"But if you never joined them on your journey," Catherine reasoned. "Then you'd be alone, without them. Do you really want that?"

Winry shook her head, which seemed to hang down from her neck like a heavy weight. "I _love_ being with them," Winry hummed. "But I _hate_ endangering them with my own stupidity,"

Catherine gave her a soft smile. "I'm sure those Elric boys enjoy your company _far more_ than they could possibly be frustrated by the mistakes they make. And who are they to talk anyways? Edward does so many stupid things a day I'm surprised he hasn't died in some fire-y explosion that destroyed half the world right along with him,"

Catherine helped Winry stand up. This wasn't something Winry was going to solve with a conversation or two. The struggle was deep and embedded through every fiber of her being, and Catherine knew this. She knew how Winry felt so humiliated by her inability to do simple task, such as getting dressed, feeding herself, carrying things, or just holding onto stuff in general. Hell, she couldn't even wipe herself after the toilet! Catherine had to do that for her, and it was always very humiliating for Winry. Her inability to do things was Winry's source of shame, and from that shame came a special kind of hatred. Hatred towards herself for being so incapable, and hatred towards the world for the torment she went through every day because of it.

"You know, after everything that's happened, the least the world can do for me is be kind to Ed and Al," Winry said bitterly, as if she had just read Catherine's mind.

* * *

When Winry and Catherine finally came back, Edward had finished explaining what had happened to the trio. Edward had his coat and jacket off, showing off his automail to the crowd, and Winry was pretty sure that if they hadn't already figured out her situation with her hands by now, Ed would've told them.

"So you became a dog of the military because God stole you guy's body parts," Mr. Halling summarized.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Edward said with a shrug. "Hey! You found Winry!"

"She wasn't that far away," Catherine hummed good-naturedly.

Winry met Mr. Halling's eyes. His held some kind of softness into it, or maybe regret, she wasn't sure. Mr. Halling really expected Winry to be glaring at him with the same ferocity and anger she had held earlier that night, but right now? She just looked tired as hell.

"You kids wen't through a lot," Mr. Halling said softly. "Not like I made it any better,"

"Yeah," Edward said bluntly. "You didn't, but it's not really _me_ that I care about. I think Winry deserves an apology,"

"I don't want one," Winry said with a sigh. "Unless you guys are somehow at fault for why the universe hates us, then you don't have anything to apologize for. The only thing in your lives you had control over was who stayed at your inn and who didn't. I still don't like what you did, but I can live with it,"

"I'll apologize anyways," Mr. Halling told her. "You guys are good kids. Rough around the edges, but how can I blame you,"

"Well, we're not that great," Ed told them. "I'll file a complaint about how Mr. String-mustache abuses his power, but other than that, there's nothing I can do,"

"But you _can_ do something more!" Khayal said eagerly. "You could give us gold with your alchemy! We could use it to save this town!"

"No, you can't," Edward told the boy. "When I said I'd file a complaint about Yoki, I didn't say it would be the solution to your problems. I may be a State-Alchemist, but I'm still a kid. The best you'd get is maybe a lower tax rate, if your lucky,"

"Which is why we need the gold!" Khayal reasoned, desperately pleading for the older boy to do something, _anything_!

Edward just shook his head. "If I gave you money now, it'd just end up as taxes in Yoki's vault," The gold-haired boy refused them. "I don't feel like being used by all of you just to get by,"

"But you can't just abandon us!" Khayal snapped.

"Why not?" Edward said with a shrug. "I'm still kinda salty about how upset you made Winry, weather you apologized or not. Besides, if your so desperate, just leave town and get some other job,"

"It's not that simple, kid," Mr. Halling told them. "You lost your home. Don't you wish to have it back?"

"Well, yeah," Edward hummed, confused.

"Well, these mines are our homes, and our graves," Mr. Halling said simply. "We don't have much here, but we've got each other. I'm not leaving that,"

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry exchanged glances. It was so simple, but it wasn't easy by a long shot. It was surprisingly easy to leave a place you had called home for so long.

The hard part was the possibility of never seeing the one's you loved again.

"Well spoken," Alphonse hummed softly. "And not that hard to empathize with," The younger Elric brother looked down at Edward, his older brother. No matter what Ed would decide, he would support him. Always. Even when he made the wrong choice. That was the least he could do for his Big Brother after all the pain he put him through by eagerly going along with the idea of committing human transmutation.

Sure, it was Edwards idea, but Alphonse knew they wouldn't have done it if he said no. But he was just as willing to make their mistake as he was, and even worse, he dragged Winry down with them, just because he was too blinded by arrogance to stop the mess before it started.

"Brother," Alphonse asked, sounding so small and gentle; such a contradiction to the cold frame he was placed in. "Are we going to abandon these people?"

There was a minute of silence. The townspeople where tense, waiting to hear if these strange kids would be the ticket to their salvation or not. Both Alphonse and Winry could practically _feel_ the cogs ticking inside of Edwards head, as he wound idea's though them like a well-oiled machine.

"I have an idea," Edward finally said. "But I need you guys to trust me,"

* * *

The four members of the Elric Crew hiked up to Yoki's mansion, loot in hand. It was around 1:00 in the morning, and they where all exhausted.

"Are you alright, Winry?" Alphonse asked his childhood friend.

Winry felt as if this was the hundredth time she had been asked that question today.

"To be honest, no," Winry said. "But Alchemist work for the people, right? I may regret becoming an Alchemist, but I'll never regret adopting the slogan,"

Her friends decided to leave it at that. She wasn't going to simply forgive the Halling's for throwing them out, but she could still move on. And at the end of the day, they could claim pride for what they did for them, despite everything.

* * *

Yoki stood there dumbfounded. At his front door stood the four members of the Elric crew. Behind them was the shiniest 3-foot-long gold bars he had ever seen. And there where dozens of them!

The gold bars where each arranged into pyramids, the smallest pyramid holding 21 bars, while the largest held at least twice that amount. There where at least twelve pyramids in total. Yoki could never be able to count how much gold those children where trying to give him.

"Ta-da!" Edward presented, a goofy smile on his face that would remind anyone of a little kid. "Now, I'd like you to sell me all the rights to the coal mines,"

Yoki's men inspected the bars, all amazed. "Wow! Is this real gold?"

"It's not enough?" Edward questioned when Yoki didn't answer right away.

"P-p-please!" Yoki stuttered quickly, as if frightened that if he didn't take the offer now, both the State Alchemist and the gold bars would just fade away from sight. "Don't be absurd! With this much gold, I can say _goodbye_ to this miserable post!" He laughed joyously, practically sparkling with happiness. _I'll bribe the higher-ranking officials at central, and then…_ Yoki continued to fantasize, before turning to the young alchemist. "And also, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, yes!" Edward said with a toothy grin, "of corse, I'll put in a good word to my superiors!"

"Oh thank you! _Thank you_! My _dear_ alchemist!" Yoki cried, shaking Eds hand with his greasy palms. In the corner of his eye, Ed gave Winry and Al a look that seemed to read "save me", to which Winry and Al gave understanding glances back at him, completely aware that Yoki's hands _had_ to feel clammy and disgusting.

"But," Edward mentioned, keeping the perky tone in his voice, despite internally screaming over how many germs had to be on that man's hand for them to feel so gross, "Making gold is illegal, so, in order to not get caught, I would appreciate it if you would write a document saying, 'the rights where peacefully transferred, free of charge'"

"Oh I wouldn't mind at all!" Yoki replied. "Well then, let's do the paperwork right away!"

The two of them laughed together over their own mischievousness, Edward feeling much happier now that Yoki was no longer touching him. "My, you really are a sly one, Mr. Alchemist, sir," Yoki chimed.

"No, no, not compared to you, lieutenant," Edward said back, as if that were a compliment.

Alphonse and Winry sighed in exasperation over the boy's antics. "Is it just me, or is he enjoying himself,"

"Yeah, he is," Winry confirmed. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but Edward was fooling around a bit more than normal. But that's what they get for staying up so late without sleep.

* * *

The Halling's and a few of the other men that had practically lived at his inn had gathered inside of a warehouse to wait for the Elric Crew. They didn't exactly know what the kids were trying to do. They where just told to trust them and wait.

"What the hell do you think those kids are doing?" Asked one of the younger miners. He was one to talk, being only eighteen.

"Just be a little patient," Mr. Halling reprimanded them. "Those kids told us to trust them, so that's what we're gonna do,"

"But how do we even know those kids are trustworthy," Nigel brought up. "Sure, they've got some sob story, but their still State Alchemist; Dogs of the Military,"

"The only one who's a State Alchemist is the oldest boy," Mr. Halling corrected. "If he cares enough about his friends to sell his soul to the military for them, then that's _got_ to mean he has some sort of a heart,"

"Well, I hope your right, dad," Khayal said. "Because if they don't take Yoki down, maybe I will!"

"Kid, you nine," One of the miners reminded him. "Face a mouse without screaming like a tree-year-old girl and then I'll take your statement seriously,"

Just as Khayal was glaring at the miner with a pout, the doors where burst open by none other than Edward Elric. "Hi everybody!" He cheered. "I finally got the solution to all your problems! And without a wink of sleep too! Who needs sleep after all!"

"I do!" Winry groaned. "I need sleep!"

"Did you figure out a way to free our town from Yoki!?" Khayal asked excitedly.

"Why of corse I did!" Edward bragged flamboyantly. The dark circles under the kids eyes didn't help the citizens of Youswell to feel any confidence in that statement. "Your town is no longer overruled by Yoki. In fact, this entire mine belongs to me!"

Everybody stared at him dumbfounded. "So that was your solution?!" Snapped Mr. Halling. "You mean our entire livelihoods are in the hands of some dumb kid in a tacky jacket!"

"Hey, hey, should you be speaking like that to the new proprietor of this joint?"

"Hey! You said we could trust you!" Khayal snapped.

"Yes, and I came through. I said I would free you guys from Yoki, and I did," Edward reasoned. "But really, we're just a couple of vagabonds going from place to place. These documents will just be in the way, so…"

Alphonse, Winry, and Catherine looked 100% done with Edwards nonsense.

"Let me guess," Mr. Halling spat out through gritted teeth, about to reconsider the faith he had put in these teenage morons. "You want to sell it to us,"

"Well, the world does abide by the laws of equivalent exchange," Edward stated with a grin. "If you want something, your gonna have to pay the price,"

"How much," Growled Mr. Halling.

"What, afraid you can't afford it?" Edward challenged. "After all, this deed is printed on high quality goatskin parchment, stamped with a gold seal. Not only that, but in a spectacular feat of—"

Before Edward could continue, however Winry shut him up with a powerful elbow to the side of his head. "Nobody gives a shit, Edward! Just get on with it!"

"What the hell, woman!" Edward snapped back. "I was having fun!"

"And I want to go to sleep _before_ the sun rises,"

"Fine, fine," Edward groaned. He looked at the minors with a board expression. "I was going to talk about the fine craftsmanship of the box the deed gets stored in, but apparently, Winry doesn't like fun. Anyways, I think the entire package could probably cost the price of one night's stay and two meals for four at your place. You gonna buy it?"

Mr. Halling suddenly smiled and laughed. "Well, I was right! You guys are good kids! Boy, is what your offering expensive! I'm almost hesitant to buy it!" He joked. "But I guess I can spare a few bucks. I'll take it!"

"Sold!" Ed declared joyously.

Suddenly, Yoki came into the warhorse, his face looking pale. In his hands he was holding lumps of coal "Mr. Alchemist, sir, what is the _meaning_ of this!" He cried.

"Hello, Lieutenant. I just sold the deed to the mine to the chief here," Ed gestured to Mr. Halling.

"What!?" Yoki cried out. "No, but that's not what I'm here for! The gold bars you gave me have all turned to _rock_! Can you please explain that!?"

"When did you change it back?" Alphonse asked suspiciously.

"Right before I left," Edward bragged in a sing-song-like voice. "I don't know anything about any 'gold bars'" Edward said to Yoki, feigning innocence.

"Please don't act dumb!" Yoki snapped. "We exchanged the pile of gold for the ownership documents! This is _fraud_!"

"Huh?" Edward questioned, a bright smile on his face. "The deed was given to me free of charge. See, you signed it! It says so right here,"

"Can't argue with penmen-ship," Catherine declared. "A skill passed down my family for generations! Seems your not so lucky, Mr. Yoki,"

"THIS DEAL IS NULL AND VOID!" Yoki shouted at the top of his lungs, backing into his men for protection. "You two!" He commanded. "Take those documents from them! Now!"

However, the tree of them were faced by the looming and terrifying figure that was Nigel. "It's not right to try and take someone's property by force," He reminded the greasy military member.

"Abusing you power, eh?" Hummed one of Nigels friends, who was just as big and scary as the man himself.

"Sh-shut up!" Yoki stuttered nervously. "Out of my way, you scum! If you don't want to get hurt you better—"

Yoki was interrupted by the loud sound of cracking nuckles, as the big burly men who worked in the mine surrounded them, toothy grins of sadistic glee on their faces, muscles bulging, and ready for a fight. "Lieutenant," Nigel said in a threatening loan. " _It's not good to underestimate the strength of coal-miners_ ,"

Winry and Al stood off to the side, watching the coal miners beat up Yoki and his men, while Edward and Catherine seemed to be enjoying the show, even encouraging the men to fight.

"And I pay her too," Winry groaned in embarrassment.

"Why am I related to this short asshole," Muttered Al.

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" Shouted Ed, surprising both Al and Winry that he was able to hear them with all the commotion.

Everything died down for a second, and finally the building was quiet. Edward took this as an opportunity to wish the slimy Lieutenant a "Good Riddance"

"Oh, Lieutenant," The the boy chimed, his small and adorable face making his next statement all the more humiliating. "I'll be sure to tell the higher-ups about your _corruption_ and _incompetence_ too. So, please look forward to it,"

Yoki fainted on the spot.

"ALL RIGHT!" The miners cheered. "WE DID IT! BRING OUT THE BOOZE!"

The miners had a party, complete with laughing, having fun, and cold beer. Winry decided to skip the party, offing for sleep, but Mr. Halling was pretty sure she was going to get any with all the noise. Catherine got drunk along with the rest of the men. They all where happily surprised that such a small and innocent-looking young woman could drink like the rest of them. Alphonse made an effort to keep the drunk men from doing anything reckless, though, they seemed pretty controlled, and aside from him having to pry one man off of one of the ceiling rafters, nothing terribly concerning happened. The men had all gathered around Edward trying to convince him to take a pint, though the fifteen-year-old was steadfast in his principles that alcohol shout _not_ be given to minors, a principle that Mr. Halling also held, and happily told the men to lay off of the small boy. Opposite to the spectrum was his own son, who he had to snatch beer away from at least four times. ("Come on, dad! Just a little sip?") The party had reached a noise level so high that the whole town would probably hear it, so Mr. Halling took it upon himself to give Winry some cotton earplugs.

He found her screaming into the bed in frustration with the pillow smooshed over her head.

"It looks like your gonna need these," Mr. Halling said pleasantly, handing the plugs to her. She didn't take them. "Right, your hands," He realized sheepishly.

"No, its fine," Winry said with a yawn. "I'll just go get Cathrine to put them in,"

"She's drunk off her ass right now," Mr. Halling informed the teen girl.

"Never mind then," Winry groaned.

Mr. Halling gave her a smile, and put one of the plugs into her ear.

"Thanks," Winry hummed, as he prepared the second plug.

"Hey, it's the least I can do after kicking your friend out," Mr. Halling laughed. "He really is a good kid,"

Winry sighed. "I know. He deserves the best. More than he gets, really,"

Mr. Halling felt a pull of sympathy for the poor kid. "You know, I was just being a jackass," Mr. Halling told her lightly.

"Huh?" Winry questioned.

"When we kicked Ed out. That was me being a jackass," Mr. Halling explained. "The universe doesn't hate you guys, and it's not being purposely cruel to you. Bad things happen, and people can be mean. But, at the end of the day, the universe isn't going to relish in tormenting you guys,"

"Could've fooled me," Winry muttered.

Mr. Halling shrugged. "It's a hard thing to convince, but take it from me. Not everything is terrible,"

Winry just nodded. Mr. Halling placed the second earplug in, and left the room, giving her a wave over his shoulder and saying, "G'night!"

Winry didn't hear a sound.

Winry slept like a log that night, but she wasn't the only one. Nearly everyone in the cabin drank themselves to sleep, while Ed ate so much he slipped into a food coma. Both Alphonse and Mrs. Halling walked around placing blankets on everyone. Al let out a long sigh when he noticed that, once again, his big brother had pulled his shirt up in his sleep, revealing his poor belly to the cold air. "You're sleeping with your stomach out again! !" Al berated the kid, despite knowing Edward couldn't her him. "Sheesh, Ed! Your so sloppy!"

* * *

The next day, the Elric crew left Youswell to turn in their inspection report to Eastern Headquarters. And they left with their smiles a little brighter than before.

* * *

 **Yep. Nice cheesy happy chapter.**

 **Honestly, I think I ended up turning the Youswell chapter into a character exploration for Winry. Because she's not the same girl that passionately crafted automail and she's not the same girl who was loved for her ability to give strength to those who had none. She doesn't really have those hands meant to give life. She's different, and for obvious reasons.**

 **She still has a similar personality to the Winry in the cannon story, but she's been through much more. She's seen the same hatred that the Elric brother's had seen, and is more cynical and nihilistic than she usually is. She thinks the world is cruel because it hasn't really done much to convince her otherwise, and it reflects in her emotions and actions, especially when the cruelty and frankly really shitty luck that Ed has is thrown at her face constantly.**

 **Now I make stories. If someone took away all of my means to make stories, I'd probably end up finding the nearest cliff and throwing myself off of it. Winry is a builder. I basically took away her ability to build, shoved her into unfamiliar territory, and watched her struggle. I'm an asshole, I know.**

 **I'm not exactly sure where I want to go with this Winry I'm crafting, but I thought that her breakdown in Youswell could be a good start. After all, if you want to see what something's made of, you pick it apart.**

 **Now, after all that depressing chit-chat, here's a fun fact: there is a small part of me that is tempted to make this into a Winry/Catherine lesbian fic. I actually made Catherine a good thirteen years older than the rest of them in order to keep myself from acting out on this urge.**

 **My eternal worship and dedication to EdWin was also pretty helpful but I digress.**

 **Next chapter, a train get's invaded. And lets just say a character's lack of bullet-proof appendages bit** **es them in the butt.**

 **And that's all folks. Read and review.**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello people! I'm back again with another chapter!**

 **I don't have much to say with this one. The events that happen here are part relevant to the changes I plan on making in the plot, and part character exploration on my part, and just a little bit of me having fun It's an odd mix, but let's just see what happens.**

 **On another topic, the fabulous Lord Jaric created a TV Tropes page for this fanfic. This human is fabulous, and I recommend you check out their work. They got mostly Fairy Tail and RWBY stuff. And check out the TV Tropes page with this link!**

 **tvtropes pm wiki/pm /Fanfic/Blue Skies And Pure Gold. Just take out the spaces and add the whole https stuff**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but god, I wish I did.**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Battle on the Train

* * *

The Elric crew handed in their report on Youswell to Eastern Headquarters, before being sent up to a city in Central called Aquroya to solve a thievery problem. They managed to catch the thief (some lady who called herself the Siren), but she escaped the moment they where about to leave the town. So they reported her to Central authorities, in a sense telling them to solve their own goddamn problems.

However, Central still wasn't done shoving their problems off onto them, because they where soon commanded by the Fuhrer himself to help try and hunt down a rouge ex-state alchemist who was trying to completely destroy central command. The guy was skilled at using water-based alchemy, and had used his own blood as a weapon, stabbing Edward in the arm.

So on top of everything, Ed was pretty sure he also had HIV.

After all that "excitement", the Elric crew spend the next while traveling to different locations, trying to find all the different library's and research facilities all over Amestris, traveling one place to the next. After all the hard mission's they had been facing, cold hard research was both reliving and mind-numbingly boring at the same time.

"I'm starting to re-think our idea of going to college," Ed stated. Library's where stuffy, research was boring, and they where already geniuses, they didn't really need the education. "Maybe we can start a small business instead, or something,"

Winry had liked the idea, but Al still wants to go to college, mostly because he heard from both Fury, Fallman, and Breda that college was fun.

"I never trusted the sanity of a cat person anyways," Edward muttered to Winry when he was positive Al wasn't listening.

It was mid July when the crew had gone to Lior. It was now late August. A lot of time had passed since the crew had thought they where going to really get their hands on the philosopher's stone.

Well, they had spend three years looking for a way to turn back to normal already. What was another year?

Long story short, all three kid's where feeling somewhat down in the dumps.

But all hell was about to break loose on the kids, and all because Colonel Mustang was about to owe them a favor.

They where on a train heading to East City, when the very incident that would place Mustang in debt to them started.

* * *

Major General Liam Hakuro was a busy and ambitious man, but that didn't mean he didn't dedicate time and effort to care for his family. His greying hair and built jaw made him look handsome despite his older age, though the stress of his job had seeped into his skin, which is why he thought the best thing for him would be to take a vacation. His wife, Amelia, was a pretty woman with short brown hair, who he always made sure to treat like a queen. His two beautiful children, Liam Jr. and Mary Clair, also had dark hair, like their mother, and loved their father, who, even though he was often busy with work, would always take time out of his day to play with them. In the military, he was pushy, greedy, and cared about little else than moving up, but even the coworkers who hated him most couldn't disagree that he was an excellent father and husband.

Mary Clair had never been on a train before, and was amazed by how fast the train was going. "Dad, we're going so fast! This is great!" She cheered, pressing her hands to the window, watching the scenery go by.

Hakuro laughed. "Don't get too excited or you'll wear yourself out," He told her pleasantly. "Now remember, you promised that you'd play with me when we got there,"

"But what about your work, dear?" His wife asked him, worried about the load of paperwork the military loved to slaughter him with.

"I finally got this vacation," Hakuro laughed, "I don't see the harm in forgetting about work for a while and just spending time with my family,"

Suddenly, the door to the their compartment opened with the shrieking sound of metal against metal, and two large men stood outside the door. "You're general Hakuro, right?" One of them asked harshly.

"Who _are_ you people," Hakuro demanded somewhat annoyed. "You're rude—" He stopped in the mid-sentence when a gun was suddenly shoved in front of his face.

"Sorry for disturbing your family gathering, general," A gruff voice echoed into the compartment, as a large man came into view. He was wearing a tattered, off-white coat, and was sporting long hair and a goatee, with a large, black eyepatch covering his left eye. "The vacation's over," he stated, as Amelia hugged her children, while Hakuro placed a protective arm out in front of them. "From here on, it will be a trip of thrills and despair,"

* * *

"The hijacked train was limited express NO. 04840, departing from New Optain," Said the crisp and professional voice of one Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. "This is the work of the 'Blue Squad', a group of eastern extremists,"

"Any statements?"

"We received a manifesto. Would you like me to read it?"

"No, that's all right," Colonel Roy Mustang entered the room where dozens upon dozens of military officials where gathered, trying to figure out the situation. "Let me guess. I'm sure it's full of kind words for the military,"

"How'd you know?" Hawkeye confirmed from behind him.

The military of Amestris where all crisp individuals who represented the faced of Amestris. An unbeatable army; carrying not only the best utilities and the most well-trained men, but the infamous human weapons that where the State Alchemist.

The military uniform was a dark blue, that made the one's who wore it look sophisticated and dignified. The uniforms bore a heavy presence wherever they would go, and citizens would stare in respect and fear at the mere presence of the men in blue.

The uniform consisted of a Dark blue jacket, with medals and honorary cons pinned onto the pockets, collar, and buttons. The shoulders contained strips of fabric that demonstrated the rank. The bottom of the uniform was made of of a blue tail-cape over loose pants, which got tucked into plain, black, military customized boots, containing custom-made souls and arch supports so that the soldiers feet could last longer in-field without feeling pain.

Colonel Roy Mustang was twenty-nine years old, with onyx, almond shaped eyes, and his face build into an appearance that looked as if he had a spot of Xingese decent. His hair was just as black as his eyes, and it laid over his head in a somewhat matted in messy array of clean strands, that always seemed to be freshly washed. His partner and subordinate, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, was a year and a half younger than he was. Mustang and Hawkeye held the hight difference of an average man and woman of their age, though while Mustang was of average for men's hight, Hawkeye was a smidge taller in that regards. She had dirty-blonde hair, most of which she swept into a bun behind her head, held down with a single hair clip. Her hair was thin, and slightly textured, so it was extremely easy to style. A few short ends in the front of her face swept out. They where too short to quite be considered bangs, but too long to merely be called wisps. The two of them presented the typical military attitude of cold and professional, yet in the way the solidly communicated to each other like old friends hinted of a humanity that soldiers weren't often allowed to present.

Milling about in the room, among others, where the four other men that made up Mustangs team. Sergeant Kain Fury, a small twenty-five-year-old with a cute face, black hair, and glasses. He was the teams technician. He loved to work with machines, and often had invigorating conversations with Winry about Automail. Vato Fallman was a man in his mid-thirties, though his grey hair and aged face made him look older. He engaged to a woman in North City who often did volunteer work up at Briggs Fortress, and was planning to have the actual wedding sometime in Winter. He had the rare talent of a photographic memory, which came in handy to just about everyone. Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda was a burly red-head in his late twenties, who most assumed he lacked intellect due to the stereotype that centered around his weight. He often had to remind others that the stuff he was injecting into himself was _not_ drugs, and that the reason he had diabetes was _not_ because he was fat, and that he had the disease since he was a little kid, and the reason he put on weight was because he ate the fat-filled sandwiches at his favorite deli more times than he knew was healthy. However, due to the often impoliteness that he had received throughout his life, he had become very resilient and thick skinned. He was a logical and cool-headed man who didn't let the small stuff get to him, nor did he let his pride get in the way of a job he had to do. He held average intelligence (average for a military man) worked hard, and still ate his much-loved sandwiches at the unhealthy deli, because goddamn it, he was not gonna let anyone else tell him otherwise! (He did have to cut back a bit. Doctor's orders. But he still enjoyed them from time to time) Last but not least was Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc, who might have had some air in his head, but he held a good heart, was good with a weapon, and was a genially likable person, despite his reputation of being a bit shallow when it came to his choice in woman. He was only a month younger than Hawkeye, had sandy-blond hair, blue eyes, and carried the attitude and posture of a country boy all over himself. He was a smoker, despite people telling him it wasn't healthy, and had a bit of a friendly rivalry with Breda, which started as an impulsive mouth on Havocs part but ended with the two men somehow becoming best friends. He was teams big brother, and even with his impulsiveness, and somewhat terrible decision making, he was still valued amongst the team.

"They want us to release their leader," Hawkeye read the demands that the Blue Squad had sent them. "We've got him in prison,"

"How predictable," Mustang groaned. "So is the general really on board?"

"We're verifying that right now, but it's very likely," Fallman answered.

"Man, what am i gonna do?" Mustang sighed in annoyance. "I have a date set up later in the evening,"

"It wouldn't hurt to have an overtime date with _us_ once in a while," Breda grumbled back at his superior officer, somewhat unpleased with the man's work ethic, or lack there of. "Complete with nasty tea,"

"Alas," Mustang declared dramatically. "I guess the General's just going to have to sacrifice himself so that we can wrap this thing up right away!" He joked

"Don't be ridiculous, Colonel," Fury berated, rolling his eyes and handing the older man a pice of paper. "Here is the list of passengers,"

"Ah," Havoc grumbled, reading the paper over Mustang's shoulder, while Fury handed them a second sheet. "Old man Hakuro really is on board with his family,"

"Good grief!" Mustang snapped. The entire incident could've been avoided if Hakuro just headed the warnings and _not_ gone to New Optain, like everyone told him to, but _no!_ "I'm sure he knew that the situation out East is unstable, and yet he comes _here_ on vacation,"

Mustang mentally prepared himself for an all-nighter with shitty coffee. That was at least until he noticed a set of four names on the passenger list that where oddly familiar. "Hold on, everyone," He said, a little less moody than before. "I think we can go home earlier today than we thought.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist is onboard,"

* * *

Winry and Catherine had gone to the bathroom only moments before the train raid started. When they came back, they where somewhat surprised to see all the big men with guns and things holding the cart hostage, but even more surprised that Edward was sleeping through all of it.

"What's going on?" Winry asked Al, after the train invaders demanded that they go back to their seats.

"Turns out some General guy is on this train with us," Al told her. "They've taken him hostage or something like that,"

"Let me guess, we're gonna have to save his ass," Winry whispered back to her childhood friend.

"That would be the right thing to do, yes," Al said with a sigh. "Frankly, my mind feels too exhausted to come up with a plan right now, though,"

"I hope the guy we're stuck saving is one of those nicer guys we met, like maybe General Raven or Commander Grand. They where pretty friendly," Winry hummed quietly. "General Grumman isn't to bad a guy either, but he seems like the last guy who'd get into a situation like this,"

"And Commander Grand seems like he would?" Al laughed lightly.

"Good point," Winry said with a smile. "You'd have to be an idiot or insane to pick a fight with Commander Grand,"

One of the two men who where keeping the cart hostage observed the sleeping Edward in annoyance. His name was Carl, and he was starting to regret taking the job, but he had to admit, being able to scare people like horror movie villains was fun, and the only form of enjoyment he still took out of his regrettable decision to join the Blue Squad. He couldn't exactly quit, and he count avoid jail after his involvement, but the least the universe could do for him would be to let him enjoy his job. The fact that the kid was sleeping while he was taking an entire car of people on a train hostage was just pissing him off.

"How can this brat sleep through all of this?" He grunted, poking the little boys face with the tip of his gun to try to get the kid to move. "Hey! Wake up!" Carl demanded. His only reply was another snore. "Why you," He grumbled at the kid, "ACT MORE LIKE A HOSTAGE YOU LITTLE RUNT!" He shouted. This was loud enough to get the kid to wake up, thank god.

Ed stomped a foot on the floor, oozing darkness as he glowered at Carl. "Huh?" The Blue Squad member hummed in confusion as he kid approached him.

Carl stuck the gun barrel in front of Ed's face, while the kid made inhuman growling noises from his throat. "What? You got a problem or something? Huh?"

Edward clapped his hands around the gun. Long sparks flue and light blared from the transmutation, and Carl's gun had been transformed into a curled horn. "What the hell is this!?" He sputtered in confusion, only to receive a foot in the face in response.

The train passengers eyed the scene in shock and general fear, while Alphonse face palmed, and Winry banged her head against the window, saying "I don't know this freak," with every time she did so. Catherine simply got up from her spot and walked off, sitting at a different bench as far away from the blond midget as possible.

Once Ed was done beating up Carl, his buddy and partner, Dave, pointed his gun at the kids head. He didn't really like the idea of shooting (what he thought was) a twelve-year-old, but the dumb kid had broken Carl's nose, and orders where orders.

"That was dumb, kid," Dave told him. "We were ordered to kill all resisters. I don't want to shoot a runt like you, but—"

The weird kid in the suit of armor grabbed Dave's wrist and pulled it away from the little boy. "Okay, okay," He snapped, annoyed at the both of them. "The two of you should just calm down,"

"What?!" Snapped Dave. "You want to fight us too?!"

And suddenly, the little boy's knee was jammed into his face.

"YOU CALL ME A RUNT!" The kid shouted, pounding Dave's face in a drumbeat like motion. "A DWARF? A _LITTLE PERSON_?!"

"I didn't way all that stuff!" Dave cried out in his defense.

"Big brother! Big brother!" Al called out, trying to get the boys attention, however, the thing that did get Ed to stop was an unexpected high-heeled kick to the face by Catherine Armstrong.

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Catherine shouted in an anger they had never seen before from her. She was absolutely terrifying. Not as terrifying as their teacher, but too close for comfort. "MY FAMILY HAS A REPUTATION OF SERVICING GOOD AND RESPECTABLE PEOPLE; A REPUTATION PASSED DOWN _MY_ FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO SOIL IT WITH YOUR MORONIC SHENANIGANS!"

Catherine calmed herself down with a few deep breathes, while Edward and Alphonse seemed to shake in fear. Winry in the meantime, looked proud to have the terrifying woman as her private assistant. _Reason why you should not mess with Winry; number one_ , she said to herself smugly.

Ed looked down at Carl and Dave, both who where knocked out cold, bleeding from the nose, and Dave was missing at least three teeth. "So, um, who _are_ these guys?" Ed asked.

Al sighed in embarrassment. _So he was just subconsciously reacting to the word "runt"_ … He thought in disappointment.

* * *

The crew tied up Dave and Carl with some makeshift ropes they created by transmuting the carpet on the train floor. Carl, who hadn't received as bad a beating from Edward as Dave had, was the first to wake up, but, when he realized that a small boy (who he was absolutely positive was 12 at the eldest, not 15 like the kid claimed to be) had kicked his ass, he fainted in humiliation. Not long after, Dave finally woke up, and lucky for them, didn't faint, and told the Elric crew everything they needed to know about their current situation on the train.

"Besides us, there are two more in the engine room, and four more in the first-class car, guarding the General. There are four in the coach car standing guard in different locations," Dave told the mall crew.

"And the rest?" Ed asked politely, holding his fist out.

"That's it!" Dave shouted out in fear, "Really! There's no more!"

"So we have to save General Hakuro's ass," Winry muttered in disappointment. "Sheesh, the guy's a dick, I was really hoping we'd be saving someone friendly. At least his family's pretty ok,"

The kids had only met General Hakuro's family once despite three years of being stationed at Eastern headquarters with him, and their first impression had been a good one. Hakuro might have been a jackass who constantly glared at them as if they where not supposed to be there, but his wife had shared some cookies she baked with them, his son thought that Edward was cool, and his daughter didn't seem the least bit afraid of Alphonse despite the armor he was wearing.

The other train passengers weren't to happy with the situation either, but for an entirely different reason.

"There's still ten more of them!"

"What're you going to do now? When they hear you beat up their men, they might come retaliate!"

"If _somebody_ was more mature, this might have ended peacefully," Alphonse complained with a sigh.

"You can't move forward if you keep regretting the past!" Ed snapped out in his defense. "What's done is done. Winry and I'll go above. Al, you and Catherine take them from below, all right?"

"Sure, sure," Al sighted.

"Nice excuse Ed," Winry groaned, following Ed as he climbed out the window.

"Who are you guys?" One of the passengers asked.

"We're alchemist!" Ed cheered proudly, climbing out the window to make his exit after the badass line. Suddenly, he could himself flying out the edge of the train, while Al had to make a quick break for it to save his brother from flying away and killing himself.

"Whoaaaaah!" Ed shouted. "Wind pressure! Wind pressure!"

"How uncool," Al muttered in embarrassment.

The other passengers looked very unassured in the credibility of the kids.

* * *

Alphonse held Winry out the window by her waist, and Ed leaned down from the roof and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up to the top of the train with him.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for Al to come with you?" Winry asked, while Ed tried to handle walking across the train roof and gripping onto Winry's wrist to make sure she didn't fly off, since she didn't exactly have the grip to save herself.

"Al's too big to fit through the window," Ed explained.

"I still don't understand why _I'm_ up here with you," Winry said in a deadpan.

"Cause two dipshits with badass alchemy facing an enemy is better than one," Ed said, as if it where a reasonable explanation.

"I'll keep that in mind, _dipshit_ ," Winry muttered back.

* * *

Larry had decided to smoke on the train. Normally, he wouldn't be allowed to do that, but today, he was a train hijacker along with the rest of his buddies in the blue squad. So if he wanted to smoke a cigarette on the train, _goddamn it_ he was gonna smoke a cigarette on the train.

He was calling into the guys on the other train compartments for a check in, but had gotten no response. "Hey, weird," He hummed to himself. He then turned to his partner, Felix, and said, "Our men in the rear aren't responding, I'll go check it out,"

"Alright," Felix answered.

Larry headed towards the back in annoyance. Knowing Carl and Dave, they probably started a poker match in the caboose or something and totally forgot they had a job to do. "Man, they're supposed to call in to report," He sighed in annoyance.

All of a sudden, a giant suit of armor was in front of him.

Larry panicked, and started shooting at the looming thing. "Wait a sec!" the armor cried out in a surprisingly childlike voice "It's gonna ricochet… Oh, I'm to late, huh," He sighed, as Larry shouted out in pain as one of the bullets had bounced off the armor and hit him in the knee. He guessed it could've been worse. His mother always did say if he kept smoking in enclosed spaces with a bunch of people inhaling second-hand smoke, Karma was one day going to come back and bite him in the ass. He probably should've listened to her.

"Hey! What's going on?! Felix shouted, rushing into the hall with his gun after hearing Larry scream. He suddenly screamed, and like Larry, he panicked and shot at the suit of armor in front of him. And, like Larry, the bullet bounced back and hit him, this time in the side of the hip, where he had _just_ gotten him surgery done on it a few weeks ago.

"The ricochet!" Alphonse had tried to warn them again, before simply groaning out in frustration. Why the hell would they listen to him anyways.

"Wow, those guys are stupid," Catherine said in amazement from behind the armored boy.

* * *

"Hey, Bald," One of the blue squad members grabbed their leaders attention. "Contact with the rear car has ceased,"

"What does that mean?" Asked a different guy, one of the two guys watching over Hakuro's compartment.

"There's someone on board," Bald growled.

"That's ridiculous!" Said the second man guarding the door. "We _took care_ of all the guards, and we've cut all communications to the outside. There's no way a passenger could call for help,"

"Did one of us turn traitor?" Asked his partner, worriedly.

"Couldn't be!" The man nearly snapped, unwilling to accept that any of his buddies would turn against their cause.

"Humph," General Hakuro scoffed. "You're nothing but a bunch of trash. You fall apart as soon as your lille plan starts to go wrong. Things aren't going to go how you want. Now's the time to start thinking about surrender, you _slime_ ,"

For this, Hakuro was shot in the ear.

"Don't speak until spoken to," He demanded, revealing his automail arm, which was customized into a machine gun, for the first time. "next time the hole won't be so little.

Hakuro covered his bleeding ear with his hand, while his wife and kids huddled around him, crying in fear.

Bald's attention was drawn away from the terrified family by the sound of footsteps on top of the train roof. There seemed to be two steps; one set of steps sounded like a light patter of feet, while the other was a light step and then a heavy stomp. Bald sighed in annoyance. It seemed that two little mice had entered the fray.

He aimed his gun to the ceiling, and shot rapid holes into it all across the roof. The sound of a young girl screaming in pain, and a growl from an equally young boy echoed through, slightly muffled by the roof.

"Two rats," He hummed. "Go check above," He told one of his men.

* * *

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Winry cried out in pain, holding her bleeding foot while grinding her teeth together to keep herself from making too much noise.

The two kids had hidden between the train cars. Both had received a bullet to the foot. Both came off lucky. The bullet would've gone up the foot and straight through Edward's leg if it hadn't hit his automail, and while Winry received the full on shot, it had only gone through her foot, and wasn't close to her leg. Still, it was painful.

"Dammit," Ed growled out through gritted teeth, throwing off Winry's shoe and bleeding sock to reveal the bullet hole in her foot. The thing had gone right through, and needless to say, neither of the teens where happy with the situation.

Edward stripped himself of his black jacket, and tied it around her foot as a makeshift bandage, while Winry continued to groan out in pain through gritted teeth. "Those shit-heads are gonna pay for that," He growled darkly.

"Yeah," Winry joked lightly, her voice strained as the nerves in her foot continued to send the singing sensation into her brain. She focused on following the flow of the neuron signal, up and down from her wound to her head, wondering if she could stop or at least slow down the pain receptacles if she concentrated hard enough. "Give them a kick to the face for me Ed, won't you?" She asked.

Edward took off his shoe, and threw the bullet lodged into his automail out of it. "Fuck those guys," Ed spat. "They could've killed you,"

"Well, they didn't," Winry countered in relief. "I mean, it's kinda comforting knowing that it's still possible for parts of my body to go through pain, you know?"

"Don't say that," Ed snapped, unsure of Winry was being serious or if the injury was messing with her head. He hoped it was the latter. "You don't deserve to go through pain, got that?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," She hummed. "Do you think my foot will have to be amputated?"

Yep, the injury was definitely messing with her head.

"Because I don't really want to have my foot amputated. I mean, automail is cool and all, but how long is it going to take me to get an automail foot? An average recovery for a foot is about a year. I can't wait a year. I have to help you guy's get your bodies back!" She panicked, taking short, ragged breaths.

The kids had been shot at before, and they did have their fare share of scars from minor bullet wounds and grazes. But, they where still kids. It was only natural for a kid to panic when receiving an injury they shouldn't have received.

"Calm down, Winry" Ed told her, gripping onto her shoulders and giving them a squeeze. "Just breath, alright? Breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth,"

Winry did so, and her breathes soon became less ragged. Ed touched his left fingers to her neck and felt her pulse, relived to see it was slowing down. "You're not gonna get your foot amputated. You'll go to the hospital, the nurses will put bandages onto stand you'll be good as new, alright?"

"Alright," Breathed Winry. "Alright. I'll be ok,"

"Yeah, you'll be ok," Ed assured her with a small smile. It had been a weird month. Usually Winry was the one to comfort Edward after something scary happened. And he had to do the reassuring for her in Youswell, and he had to calm her down just now. _I'm not qualified for this_! Ed screamed internally. But, at least it showed that he was better at handling other people's feelings then he thought he was.

Edward placed Winry onto his back, keeping a firm grip on her with his automail hand while she proceeded to squeeze the life out of him by tightly wrapping her arms and legs around his body.

"Winry, you're killing me," Ed wheezed out, as he tried to climb back up the train to the engine room. Winry loosened up a tiny bit, but it didn't give him much relief.

There where two members of the Blue Squad in the engine room, pointing their guns at two other men who where working the train. Edward dumped Winry into the room through the open window, and crawled around to the other side of the compartment to make his sneak attack.

"What the hell?" One of the men sputtered in confusion.

"How'd this little girl get in here?" The other one said.

Suddenly, with a kick to the head, his face was slammed into one of the train pipes, and the man was knocked out cold.

Edward jumped into the compartment, as the remaining man turned to the boy with his gun. However, before the man could do anything, he was whacked upside the head by the train operating men, using their shovels as weapons. When the guy was knocked out, the two of them gave the small kid a thumbs up in approval, while Ed gave one back.

"Ed, you jackass," Winry grumbled at him, unhappy that he used her as a human distraction.

"Well it's not like you can fight in that condition," Ed tried to defend himself.

The older of the two engine managers went over to Winry, muttering about how he knew a little about first aid, and took Ed's cardigan off the girls foot and gave her some real treatment with the train's first-aid kit.

"Keep her safe, okay?" Ed told them, "And drive safely. I'm gonna take care of the remaining hijackers," Ed told the two men.

"Don't worry. Your girlfriend's in safe hands with us," Laughed the younger of the two men.

"Why do they keep calling her my girlfriend," Ed muttered under his breath, climbing out of the engine rom and towards the first-class car. He looked over the edge of the roof, only to see a large man with no hair except for a small tuff of blond strands in the center of his head aiming a gun at him.

"There you are, you rodent," He laughed before shooting at the poor kid. Ed dived into the tender car for cover.

Ed clapped his hands together and created a giant cannon out of the coal, shooting a large black ball at the man, shouting; "THAT'S FOR SHOOTING WINRY YOU SHIT-HEADS!" The cannon ball hit it's mark, and the man fell back into the train car.

"Hey!" Snapped one of the men running the engine room, the older one. "What are you doing to the tender car! That's got the water and coal for the whole train!

"Oh, sorry!" Ed shouted back in slight embarrassment, before an idea came to him. "Hmm, the tender car…" He said to himself, picturing the car's components. A section for coal, and an entire pools-worth of water.

* * *

"Bald! That's no _mouse_!" The man with the single hair tuff reported when he fell back into the car. "I don't know who he is, but there's some crazy guy up there!"

Bald scowled, as another one of his men called into the phone in hopes that _somebody_ would actually check in. "Hey, car No. 2! What's going on!? Hey!"

"Help!" Shouted a guy from across the phone. "There's a huge suit of armor!"

" _Armor_?!" Snapped the man, confused. "What are you talking about!?"

All he heard in response where screams on the other side of the line, the sound of bullets hitting metal, more screaming, then dead silence.

"Shit," One of the men moaned. "We're dead,"

Suddenly, a weird looking megaphone appeared out of the other side of the wall. It was a weird head shape, with cheesy-looking angry eyes, and a small blonde braid and antenna sticking out of it, while the megaphone made up it's mouth. It seemed to pop out of the wall with a sort of _floop_.

"Hello, hello," Said a boyish voice out of the weird contraption. "Calling all hijackers. We have recaptured the engine room and the rear cars. This car is the only one left. Normally, in a situation like this, I would give you an opportunity to try and surrender. But, unfortunately, you made the grave mistake of _pissing me off._ So you can take comfort in knowing that you had this coming,"

Al and Catherine where standing right outside the remaining compartment. Ed sounded a lot angrier then his usual anger, which worried the two. Something bad had happened.

Underneath the megaphone, a giant water pipe appeared. "All passengers, please take cover," Ed told them, turning the pipe on, barely even giving the Blue Squad a chance to say a word. General Hakuro hunkered down with his family as a large stream of water poured out of the pipe, completely drenching the room in a ferocious wave. Alphonse opened the door and let the three remaining hijackers wash out of the first-class compartment and into the next area.

"Welcome" He said viciously, looming over the two of them with his fist ready for a fight, while Catherine mimicked the same movement with a vicious glee in her eyes, the two of them ready to beat the three men up.

"It's the big suit of armor," The man who was operating the phone call spoke out in fear.

Bald, in the meantime, stood up off the floor. He was soaking wet, but he was still prepared to fight to his very last bone. "We're not through!" He declared. "We still got the hostages!"

Ed jumped down into the compartment from the train roof, clapping his hands together and creating his automail blade. "Well, well, someone else with an automail arm,"

Ed started shaking, glaring at the man viciously. "You're the one who shot my friend, aren't you! I promised her I'd give you a kick in the face for what you did!"

"You shot Winry," Said another voice from behind Bald. Despite the voice sounding younger, it also sounded a lot darker as well. Bald turned around to see Alphonse Elric glowering at him, with a ferocity that made him look monstrous. He lifted Bald up by the color of his shirt. "You bastard," He growled, his voice low, quiet, and creepily calm. Even Edward had to admit that Al was scaring him somewhat. "Nobody messes with _my_ family and gets away with it,"

With the force of a lion, Alphonse slammed Bald to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

"Winry asked for a kick to the face, right?" Al questioned Edward.

Half of Edward was proud of his little brother for his impressive display of terrifyingly controlled anger and contempt towards a man who hurt their friend. The other half of him was frightened. Edward nodded at his little brother, confirming what Winry had wanted.

Bald was instantly knocked unconscious by a heavy stomp on the face. His nose broke with a loud _squish_ , and nearly all his front teeth where knocked out of place, along with his jaw.

"I…" Al said hesitantly, shaking slightly, mortified over his outburst. "I think I broke his jaw,"

Ed gave Alphonse a comforting pat on the back. "Hey, he's still alive, isn't he?"

Edward made a mental note to never get Alphonse angry at him. _Ever_.

The engine room workers carried Winry out of the train when it finally arrived at Eastern station.

"Winry!" Alphonse shouted in worry, running towards her, with Catherine trailing behind him. He scooped up his childhood friend in his arms, and held her close to himself, as if he wanted to absorb her into himself and keep her safe from any other potential harms. He was relived to see that the bullet only hit her foot, and it wasn't actually that bad, but it still made him want to cry in relief.

"You'd be proud of Al," Edward told Winry. "He avenged your foot with great fury! The guy who shot you? My little brother totally whooped his ass!"

Ed's praise made Al feel a bit better about nearly killing Bald. He was still reeling from it, but at least his big brother wasn't ashamed of him or anything.

"Alright!" Winry cheered. "Good job, Al!"

"You should've seen him in action!" Catherine continued to brag, despite also having been terrified by the outburst. "That hijacker guy didn't stand a chance!"

"Hey, Fullmetal," A different voice chimed in. The four members of the Elric crew turned to see Colonel Mustang waving at them. "Oh my, it seems you two didn't get off unscathed either," He observed.

"Fuck you, Colonel Bastard," Ed simply snapped.

"Are you alright, Winry?" Lieutenant Hawkeye asked the injured girl.

"It's not hurting anymore, so I guess I'm alright," Winry replied. "It's nothing worse than stuff I've already been through,"

"I guess you're still not back to normal," Colonel Mustang observed, eyeing the automail hand that was usually concealed by Edward's gloves.

"I'm researching the ancient texts, but nothing yet…" Edward sighed. "I pulled an all nighter the other night. Right now we've been searching East City, but we still haven't found anything that might work,"

"I've heard the rumors," Mustang laughed. "It seems you're causing quite a commotion,"

"I guess you're as nosy as ever," Ed quipped.

"Frankly, it's hard _not_ to hear about you," Mustang threw back. "I'll call up an emergency car to get Winry to the hospital. If you sign her in under your name the State Alchemist funds should cover her expenses,"

Before Ed could reply, the sound of men screaming out in pain echoed through the station.

Bald had been tied up, and Ed had used alchemy to render his automail arm-gun useless. But he had a concealed knife, which he used to cut his way out of the ropes, and fight off the guards holding him. He eyed Colonel Mustang, taking a look at some of the badges on his uniform, taking a guess that the man was of high rank. His black jacket hid the stars on his shoulder that would've confirmed his rank, but nobody could have that many medals and be anything less than a Major.

"Please, stay back, colonel," Hawkeye said, getting out her pistol. She easily could've subdued him with a bullet to the leg, but Mustang was never one to turn down an opportunity to show what he could do.

"I'll take care of this," He said cockily, with a goofy and excited smile plastered on his face. Bald ran at him with the blood-coated knife, but all Mustang needed to do was snap his fingers, and Bald was defeated, covered with minor burns.

"I took it easy on you," Mustang declared, as the other soldiers helped to arrest the man. "If you try to resist again, I'll turn you into ash, got it?"

"Da-an yeh," Bald spat out, his words slurred and muffled from his broken jaw. "Heh the heh-el ah yeh?"

"Roy Mustang," The soldier said proudly. "Rank: Colonel. And one more thing;

"I'm the _Flame Alchemist_. Don't forget that,"

The Elric crew exchanged looks. "Yeah, Alphonse is still more intimidating," Ed laughed.

* * *

 **And done.**

 **This chapter was pretty fun to write. The part with Alphonse being scary wasn't actually part of my plan for this chapter, but it kinda just wrote itself. And come one! Al can be utterly terrifying if he wants to be.**

 **Now, as for the plot changes, small ones are approaching soon. Nothing terribly divergent from cannon, but different enough to be considered different. I won't spoil any of my plans, but let's just say things are gonna start going into the unpredictable direction somewhat soon.**

 **And with this chapter, I officially wrote the equivalent of the first volume of Fullmetal Alchemist. Yay me! And you all can reward me for my hard work by leaving a review!**

 **Next chapter; the tragedy of Nina Tucker. Kill me now please...**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello, dear readers! It's been a while. Sorry for the wait, but I gotta confess, I was procrastinating on writing this chapter a bit, for obvious reasons.**

 **Happy October 3rd, anyways! What better way to honor this day than to post a chapter on the saddest and most traumatizing event to happen in the manga.**

 **And you better review, because writing this chapter was painful, and I'd rather my hard word not be for nothing.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. The Nina thing would not be something that my mind would've conceived. But now, I can think of worse. Thanks Arakawa-Sensai!**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 5: An Alchemist Suffering

* * *

The military MP's watched the event's of Bald's arrest go down, and they had to say, calling such a feat of Alchemy on the famous Colonel Roy Mustang's part "epic" would be an understatement.

"Whoa!" Spoke out one of the younger soldiers. "That was amazing,"

2nd Lieutenant Havoc pulled out a lighter of his pocket to light up the cigarette he currently held between his teeth. "Hmm? You've never seen the Colonel shoot fire before?"

"Oh, 2nd Lieutenant Havoc!" Pipped out the young soldier's older buddy, giving the higher-ranking soldier a salute.

"How in the world did he do that!?" The young soldier, still memorized by the feat of flame alchemy, asked, curious and amazed.

"The Colonel's clove is made out of a special reactive cloth," Havoc explained. "When you rub it together, it sparks. The rest is just adjusting the oxygen level in the air around what you want to combust, and then, BOOM!"

"I understand the logic behind it," The older soldier explained. "But _how_?" He was at a loss for words.

"Alchemist are people who can do these things," Havoc simply said with a shrug. It wasn't much of an explanation, but it was all the man had at the moment. "That little guy standing next to the Colonel is a State Alchemist too," Havoc remarked, referring to Edward Elric

" _What!_ " The MP's cried out in surprise. He wasn't even five feet tall. He still had a baby face; he looked twelve years old! The big red coat on top of his body made him look even smaller. The boy had probably worn such a clothing item to make more of a presence, but it simply gave the illusion of a little boy playing superhero with his favorite blanket as a cape. "So _he's_ the one who captured all the hijackers?!"

"Well, you can't discount his little brother and his friend. They pulled their own weight too," Havoc laughed.

"You mean that little girl who got shot?" The older MP exclaimed, as if frightened by the very _idea_ of a child like her getting close enough to the danger to receive an injury such as that. "The kids? Can you believe that?"

"I don't know," The younger soldier sighed, thoughts rapidly spinning around his head in all directions. "He can't be human!"

* * *

The first thing the Elric crew did was check Winry into the hospital. Once the brother's where ensured she was in safe hands, they left Catherine to take care of their friend, and went with the Colonel to Eastern Headquarters to carry out all the official aspects of recent events.

Mustang settled into his desk, while the two boy's settled into the couch in front of it.

"You owe me big time for this one, Colonel Crapheap," Edward sneered, glaring daggers at his superior.

"Don't look at me like that," Mustang grumbled, rolling his eyes at the teen's behavior. "It's not my fault your girlfriend got shot,"

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Edward shouted. "Yeash! Winry is a badass individual, I'm not letting you sexist jerks demote her to just 'the Fullmetal Alchemist _girlfriend'!_ _Which_ she is not, by the way! _"_

"That's what your mad about?" Mustang questioned, somewhat surprised.

"My thoughts didn't actually go there, but Ed's got a point," Al jumped in. "Winry got hurt trying to stop those guys, you shouldn't be giving her so little credit,"

"Alright, alright," Mustang groaned, holding his hands up in mock-surrender, "I never discredited her, I just said it wasn't my fault she got shot,"

"Yeah, that's my second problem. Sure it was Bald who shot her, but we took out _Eastern_ terrorist that were a threat to _Eastern_ command, where the _Eastern_ soldiers are supposed to take care of _Eastern_ problems. In other words, Winry got shot because _you_ didn't do your job properly," Ed ranted, teeth gritted.

"Don't get snarky with _me,_ Fullmetal," Colonel Mustang scolded the teenager. "I'm your _Commanding Officer_ in case you've forgotten,"

"Oh, stop acting so high and mighty," Ed spat. "You and I both know you have the maturity of a _ten-year-old_. Just consider yourself lucky I haven't _sued_ your ass after what happened to Winry,"

"Point taken," Mustang said with a sigh. Sure, it would be better for his ego if he knocked the (in his opinion) little brat off his pedestal, but if the Colonel had learned anything, it was to pick one's battle's wisely. And frankly, arguing with a stubborn and angry fifteen-year-old would lead him nowhere except frustrated. "What do you want,"

"Now your talking our language," Ed spat. "First of all, considering the district that Winry got injured in was _your_ district, I think it would be fitting if _you_ paid for her hospital bills,"

"Your kidding," Mustang deadpanned. "You do realize she's got pretty decent insurance,"

"Yeah, but I want it to come out of _your_ pocket," The teen threw back stubbornly.

"Besides," Alphonse mentioned, "Our insurance is only effective is our granny signs for it, since we're all underaged. We'll have to get it resigned at the end of the month, and you wouldn't want a _poor old woman_ out in the country to worry about her granddaughter facing such _dangers_ , right?"

Mustang narrowed his eyes at the younger brother. He forgot how annoyingly passive aggressive the kid could be. And now, Alphonse put him in a situation where, if he refused their terms, he would officially be on the moral _low ground_.

And if he took the moral low ground, he'd have one Maes Hughes on his ass chastising him about it for at least the next four months.

"Fine, I'll pay for her bill," Mustang groaned. "You do realize I'm not made of money, do you?"

"We do," Edward said with no humor. "Which is why our next request is free,"

"Next request?"

"We took care of a band of terrorist. That's one favor," Ed explained himself. "And we didn't go unscathed, so that's where the second favor comes in,"

"Alright, what's next then?" Mustang asked, sounding board and annoyed.

Edward and Alphonse could've never guessed that in this moment, the favor they where owed would knock in a string of events that would change the corse of history.

"We need to know more about bio-alchemy," Edward requested. "Where can I go around here for more information? Like a library, or an expert?"

"Right now?" Mustang almost laughed. "You youngsters are always in such a _hurry_ ,"

"Well maybe my arms and leg's will grow back themselves, if I wait long enough!" Edward drawled, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Maybe we can start a good old _body farm_ and _plant_ a new body for Alphonse. While we're at it, maybe we can grow a new nervous system inside of Winry's hands! Wouldn't that be convenient?!"

"Point. Taken." Mustang grumbled through gritted teeth. "This is why I don't invite you to any of the military party's,"

"Why would we go to one of those stuffy-ass things anyways?"

Colonel Mustang pulled a book full of State Alchemist profiles, and flipped through the pages, muttering to himself as he filed through the "S" section. "The _Sand Alchemist_ \- didn't he retire? The _Sapphire Alchemist_ \- wait she died over thirty years ago from old-age, how old are these documents!? The _Scale Alchemist_ \- hey, someone who's still in business! Ah-ha! Found it!"

Mustang placed the document in front of Edward, depicting a man in his late thirties with thin hair, a large nose, and circular glasses. " _Chimera_ : An artificial fusion created my alchemically 'marrying' two genetically dissimilar life forms," Ed picked up the document, reading them while Mustang continued to talk. "In other words, there's a chimera researcher in this city; Shou Tucker, the _Sewing-Life Alchemist_ ,"

* * *

The Elric brother's sat in one of the black official military cars, Roy Mustang sitting in the seat across from them.

"He got his state Alchemist's certification two years ago when he created a Chimera that could speak," Mustang told the two boy's about the man they where going to visit.

"It could _speak_!" Edward cried. The two boys looked excited, like little kid's about to enter a candy store. "You mean it talked like a human!? A _chimera_!?"

"That would appear to be the case," Mustang confirmed. "I wasn't in charge at the time, so I've never actually seen it. It could understand human speak, and it spoke… But all it said was _'I want to die_ '… After that, it refused to eat and died not long after,"

On _that_ lovely note, the car pulled up at the Tucker estate.

"Well, anyway, let's go meet him and see what kind of person he is," Mustang commanded.

The two boy's where instantly taken to a large mansion, that was three stories tall, attic and basement not included, and spread across a large yard. It was smaller than the Armstrong mansion (but then again, even the Fuhrer's estate was smaller than the thing), but it was bigger than Yoki's mansion in Youswell, which in itself was impressive.

"What a huge place," Ed claimed in awe, his eyes seeming to pop out of his head. The Elric crew had always loved mansions. Mansions where cool.

A rustle in the leaves caught the elder Elric's attention, but before he could react to it, a bark sounded, and Edward suddenly found himself being crushed by the weight of the biggest dog he had ever seen.

Edward loved dogs. His proof of such a fact dated all the way back to before his mother died when he tried to steal Den out of Winry's house for what he claimed would be a "sleepover" (Ed had the feeling that he didn't really intend on giving the poor pupper back). And this dog was adorable. It was pure white, had the bark of a Corgi despite it's size, and had a cute muzzle, loving eyes, and flappy little ears to boot. But just because the dog was _super fucking adorable_ , didn't mean that Ed wasn't somewhat upset about being jumped on by the thing. _Sure_ , it was _really_ hard to be mad at the pooch, but it was _heavy_!

"Hey, Alexander, you stop that!" Scolded a young voice.

The Elric brother's looked up at the mansions door to see both the man they saw in the picture (though less shaven and older-looking) and a little girl who had to be around five.

She had big blue eyes and a wide smile. Her hair was a chestnut brown - like their mother's was, strongly enough - and she had it tucked down into two long braids. She had little smile dimples (which up until now, the Elric brother's thought that this phenomenon was something only Winry had), and a button nose, fitting of a kid her age.

A cute little girl and her cute big dog.

It took their biggest lead of their journey falling flat right in front of them, getting kicked to the streets, Central trying to drop their problems onto them, possible HIV's, and Winry getting shot through the foot, but the universe was _finally_ giving them a nice break. Alphonse loved little kids, and Edward loved dogs. Winry loved both.

The creepy vibe they had gotten from Tucker about his creation faded away.

"Wow, daddy!" The little girl cheered. "Lots of guests!"

"Nina," Her dad scolded lightly, seeming a bit embarrassed and awkward. "I _told_ you to keep the dog tied up,"

* * *

The three males where invited inside. The house was somewhat messy, with clutter all over the place, most of them being empty jars, boxes full of files, papers, and food-spills. The colorful cereal on the ground hinted that most of the food-spills were little Nina's responsibility.

Shou Tucker himself was dressed in loose clothing, and it looked as if he had forgotten to shave for the past few days. He didn't quite sport the whisker-covered chin that Hughes had, but he had a very different look from the stiff and formal middle-aged man the boy's had seen in the photo. He looked like a normal, single father. A little disheveled, and definitely _more_ than a little socially awkward, but he seemed ok. Though, his noticeable back slouch did make the two Elric boys a little concerned for Tucker's health.

"I apologize for the mess," He laughed awkwardly. "It's been like this since my wife left me," Tucker cleared a spot at the table, and took one of the chairs, while Ed, Al, and Mustang took the chairs at the opposite side of the table.

"Nice to meet you, Edward. I'm Shou Tucker. The one they call the _Sewing-Life Alchemist_ ,"

"Edward's interested in biological alchemy," Mustang explained, ignoring Ed rolling his eyes over the older man speaking _for_ him. "I told him you might be able to show him your research,"

"Oh, I don't mind," Tucker told the two boy's with a smile. "But, if you want to see whats up my sleeve, first you have to show me what's up _yours._ Alchemy is about Equivalent Exchange. So, why are you interested in Biological transmutation?"

"Um, well, he's," Mustang fumbled, trying to think of an excuse. But Edward simply signaled him to stop.

"Colonel, Mr. Tucker has the right to an answer,"

Edward took off his cardigan, unsnapping it it at the metal fasten, releasing the song of pain from it's muffling gag. "So," Shou Tucker spoke out, eyeing the shiny metal arm that heavily pulled from his shoulder. "That's why your called the Fullmetal Alchemist,"

And so, Edward and Alphonse told Shou Tucker their story. Their mother's death. The death of Auntie Sarah and Uncle Urey. Their best friend involving herself in something they desperately wished she hadn't. Edward loosing his leg. Winry loosing the ability to use her hands. Alphonse loosing his entire body, and Edward sacrificing his arm to save his baby brother's life.

"I see," Tucker said sadly when they where done. "So you lost your mother, _and_ your guardians" He gave the two young boy's eyes of sympathy. "That must have been hard,"

Edward looked down at his lap, his eyes coated with melancholy. Alphonse didn't even have a face to express his emotions with. Three years. Three years of this pain. And they had gotten absolutely nowhere.

 _I don't think there's anything I can do to help these children_ , Tucker thought to himself. _I barely even scrapped myself off the bottom of the barrel, and I'm at risk of loosing it all. But these kids are spirited. Maybe they can do all the great feats of alchemy that I failed to do._

"I've told my superiors that he lost his limbs in the civil war in the East," Mustang informed the Sewing-Life Alchemist. "I must ask you to keep quiet about his attempts at Human Transmutation,"

"Sure," Tucker agreed with no hesitation. Mustang was his superior officer, and could've simply ordered him into silence. But Tucker had little - no, - absolutely no reason whatsoever to sell the boy out. He wouldn't think of cutting away such a bright individual's shot at a chance for better. "No problem. I'm sure the military couldn't afford to lose such a brilliant individual. Well then…"

Tucker led the boys and the Colonel over to the hallway where most of his lab-rooms where located. "Let me show you my laboratory, although I'm not sure if it will be much help to you,"

He led the trio into a room where different animals of all kinds where stitched together using Alchemy. The Elric boys couldn't help but feel creeped out by the creatures in the room. Experimentation on animals was necessary for medical research, but that still didn't make the results of such experiments horrifying to look at.

"Ah, you got to excuse me," Tucker laughed, seeming embarrassed by some of the somewhat failed-looking experiments; animals who's dead bodies where preserved for further study on what went wrong, and the extra heads on a few animals telling of their poor fusion. It seemed as if the room had more dead or mutilated animals than living ones. "I'm supposed to be the authority on chimeras, but in reality, it's never easy. Lot's of failures, lot's of false starts…" He explained awkwardly.

He led the group to a room further down from his lab, saying, "This is my file room," Before entering a large room filled to the brim with shelves upon shelves of well-organized Alchemy books, research papers, detailed paperwork on experiments, and titles of scriptures the two boy's had only heard about in rumors.

"This is incredible!" Edward joyously cried out in awe. The young boy didn't know what he loved more; books, or dogs!

"Feel free to look around," Tucker told them. "I'll be in the lab,"

"All right then, I'll start with this shelf!" Edward announced.

"Okay, I'll start from over there," Al replied, as Edward began to absorb himself in a journal documenting the alchemical components in life-building.

"All right, you two. I have to get back to work," Mustang told the boys. "I'll send some of my men to get you before dark. They'll drop you off at the hospital so you can pay a visit to Winry. She should be all bandaged up and maybe even ready to go by then, knowing how little time you three like to spend in the hospital.

Alphonse gave them a nod of thanks, but Edward looked as if he where in another world, fazed out of this one and pulled into the other by the book.

"He has an amazing ability to focus," Tucker observed, laughing a bit. Nina had been learning to read herself and had been enjoying it immensely. He wondered if she would grow into someone who would be pulled into an alchemy book as easily as this boy had. "When reading, he doesn't even hear the voices around him!"

"Yes," Mustang confirmed seeming… proud, maybe? "You know he's not average, becoming a State Alchemist so young,"

"I guess geniuses really do exist," Shou Tucker hummed to himself, immensely impressed, and maybe even a little envious.

That kid was going to do something great in his future. Shou Tucker could feel it.

* * *

The grandfather clock rang, indicating it to be six P.M. Ed was pulled back into reality in a bit of a shock. "Uh-oh, I didn't realize the time. Winry's gonna be worried about us," However, Ed was surprised to find that Al wasn't anywhere near him.

"Al?" He called out. "Alphonse, where are you?" He swallowed down all of his irrational worries. Alphonse was fine. He wasn't dead, he probably hadn't been abducted by aliens, and if some large natural disaster destroyed most of the Tucker estate and Alphonse with it, Ed was pretty sure he would know.

Being a big brother could be so exhausting at times!

Ed stood up and began to wonder around the library, noticing that everything looked fine and in one piece, so Alphonse probably hadn't been swept away by a storm or anything. "I wonder where he went," Ed hummed to himself.

Then suddenly; Dog.

Ed let out a cry of pain as the weight of Alexander was suddenly upon him. The dog jumped on him again! The nerve of the mutt! Sure, it was cute, and Ed loved it, but it still gave the dog no excuse!

"Oh, hey big brother," Echoed a familiar voice. Ed looked up from his spot on the floor to see his little brother. A small bit of relief flooded through Ed, but it soon changed to annoyance when he observed the small child sitting atop on Al's shoulders.

"What do you mean, _'Hey, big brother!?'_ " Edward snapped, the rise and fall of the dogs chest pressing and releasing into his back. Ed had already developed terrible poster (not as bad as Tuckers, but still bad), and the dog constantly landing on his back wasn't very helpful. "You're supposed to be looking through the data, not _babysitting_!"

"Well, Nina wanted me to play with her, so…" Al explained, while the little girl atop his shoulders practically radiated sunshine.

"Why you!" Ed spat out in annoyance. Ed had always thought that little kids where the worst. They where messy, infested with germs, loud, petty, annoying, stupid—

"Hey big brother!" Little Nina called to Ed from where she was sitting, as Alexander coated the teen's face in a layer of slobber. _Big_ brother. She just called him the _big_ brother? Not the little one?

And suddenly, Nina was Edwards best friend.

"Alexander says he wants _you_ to play with him too!" Nina cried joyously.

"Hmph, you've got a lot of nerve asking me to play with you, dog," Ed growled, unwilling to let his sheer happiness over Nina referring to him as the bigger brother overwhelm him and allow him to sacrifice his pride. He wasn't going to let some kid and some dog get the best of him. Not in front of Alphonse at least. "They say that catching a mere rabbit takes every bit of a lion's strength," He began to monologue, before suddenly chasing after the big white dog in a mad sprint, shouting at the top of his lungs. "JUST STRY TO SIT ON ME AGAIN, YOU CANINE FIEND! I, EDWARDS ELRIC, WILL FIGHT YOU WITH MY ENTIRE BODY AND SOUL!"

Ed may have been trying to impress his little brother by showing his might, or something at least, Alphonse had to conclude. But all the younger brother could think while watching Ed chase the dog was "How immature".

At least it got a laugh out of Nina.

* * *

"Hey, Chief, I'm here to pick you up,"

When Jean Havoc finally arrived at the Tucker estate to pick the two boys up, he found Ed being, once again, crushed under the big white dog. The poor boy was moaning in pain, and to make matters worse, Nina seemed to be climbing around him too, while petting her canine friend.

"Mind if I ask what you're doing?"

"Uh, well," Ed croaked out embarrassed, trying to think of an explanation that sounded better than "I was bested by a dog". "I guess you could say I'm just taking a little break from my research!" Ed told them, trying to sound authoritative and official so that the two adults in the room wouldn't come to any other conclusion than the one he gave them.

"So, did you find any useful data?" Tucker asked. Edwards guilty and stressed face said it all. "You can come back tomorrow," Tucker told the boy with a small laugh.

"You don't mind if we bring Winry with us, would you?" Ed asked.

"Not at all, she's welcome here," Tucker answered. "As long as the hospital says she can leave,"

"Are you gonna come back?" Nina asked Alphonse excitedly.

"Uh-huh, and we might bring our friend!" Al told the little girl. "Let's play again tomorrow,"

As the boys left the estate, Havoc paused at the door. "Oh, Mr. Tucker, I have a message from the Colonel. He said 'Please don't forget that the assessment date is coming up,'"

Tucker's entire face seemed to age at least five years. "Yes, I know," He told the 2nd Lieutenant, as the guest left his house.

"Hey daddy, what's an assessment?" Nina asked curiously.

Tucker got down onto one knee so that his little girl could look him in the eye. Nina had been three years old when he got his state license. She probably barely even remembered their life before.

First his wife… Would the same thing have to happen to Nina?

"Well, sweetie," Tucker began to explain. "When you become a state alchemist, you have to show the results of your research once a year. And if they don't like how you're doing, they take away your license. Daddy's evaluation wasn't very good last year, so unless I do something great this year, I won't be a State Alchemist anymore,"

"What!?" Nina cried in destress, jumping into her dad's arms. "You'll do great daddy!" She declared, as if the world would not accept any other possibility. "You're always studying a lot!"

"I know, sweetie," Tucker told her, hugging her back. "But if they don't like me, there's nothing else left that I can do,"

No, that was a lie. There was one thing left.

From a young age, Shou Tucker had been obsessed with Alchemy. A science that let you understand more of the world than any other science could possibly allow. He was fascinated by chimera's as well. The idea that someone could create something new; something that didn't exist in this world. What young scientist wouldn't love the idea. He still carried such a notion after all these years.

It was fascinating; The things he could do, and how he could do it. A wonderful experiment. Shou Tucker loved to create new life, not because of some sort of power-trip or a god complex or whatever else the average civilian claimed that the alchemist had. It was just pure curiosity. And a thirst for knowledge. But without the State Alchemist funding, how was he going to continue his quest to know everything about life?

There was one thing he could do, but would the benefits _really_ outweigh the cost?

"That's right…" Tucker hummed sadly. "There's nothing else I can do…"

* * *

Winry looked into her lap at the bowl of pasta that had been presented in front of her. It was spaghetti, but there was something weird about the idea that Catherine Armstrong would give her spaghetti from the hospital. In fact, Catherine never touched a bowl of spaghetti that wasn't…

Made by her brother…

Winry sighed. She just got her foot casted. She didn't want a set of broken ribs as well.

"Catherine," Winry groaned, slightly annoyed. "You didn't get this spaghetti from the hospital cafeteria, did you?" _Maybe there's some hope that she could've just broken her weird rich-girl habit_ …

"Of course not!" Catherine spat, seeming insulted, her nose in the air. "I would _never_ even go _near_ a bowl of spaghetti, unless—"

"Unless it's cooked by your brother," Winry finished for her assistant, annoyance creeping through her body in increased amounts. "He's here, isn't he?"

As if right on cue, the extremely tall, extremely buff, 99% muscle-made figure came stomping into Winry's hospital room.

Alex Luise Armstrong, oldest and only son in the Armstrong family. Catherine's older brother. He was big, he was strong, he looked like someone chiseled him from stone like one of those buff ancient Aurgian statues, and he stood out in a crowd like nobody wanted him too. His shiny bald head held one single curl of hair; a traditional Armstrong hair loop that the entire family had, and his blond mustache was just as curly. He had a similar eye shape to Catherine, and looking past the obvious size difference, it wasn't hard to see the resemblance between the two siblings. However, his big size wasn't all he was known for; he was also known for being extremely over-emotional about everything, ignoring personal boundaries and hugging everyone and anyone in an embrace that could break ribs, and his weird habit of taking his shirt off whenever he had the opportunity. Sometimes, it just evaporated off his skin entirely. How it did that, Winry would never understand.

He also sparkled. Winry didn't understand how that was possible either.

"OH, MISS WINRY!" The Major cried, "WHEN I HEARD YOU WHERE THE HOSPITAL I CAME AS QUICKLY AS I COULD! WHAT A TRAGEDY! YOU WHERE SO COURAGEOUS TO FIGHT THOSE TERRORIST EVEN WHEN YOU KNEW YOU COULD BE HURT! AND ALL YOU GOT FOR YOUR VALIANT EFFORTS WAS A BULLET TO THE FOOT! HOW CRUEL! HOW TRAGIC! LET ME OFFER YOU MY COMFORTING EMBRACE!"

"No, no, stay away," Winry tried to demand, but it was futile. She was pulled into a bone-crushing hug by the large man against her will. "There goes my ribs…" She choked out.

"Major, let her be," Said the voice of another man. One that Winry recognized, and, over the three years the Elric crew had been searching for a way to get their bodies back, had practically become family to them. "We don't need bruised organs to be added to her hospital bill, now do we?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" Winry cheered, upon seeing the familiar face.

Maes Hughes was thirty years old. The Elric crew knew him because he was best friends with Colonel Mustang. He had messy black hair that he often combed back with his fingers, but a small section of hair always seemed to poke back out front. He had developed a thin beard, and wore square glasses over his particularly long nose. His entire appearance just seemed to scream "FAMILY MAN", which was fitting, since he was best known by the people in the military for his habit of bragging about and bombarding people with pictures of his wife Gracia, and his daughter Elicia.

"It's good to see you, Winry," He greeted, coming up to her and giving her a pat on the head. Winry giggled at this. Hughes then grabbed a chair near her bead and sat down in it.

"The Major and I were sent out East tracking a murder case," Hughes explained. "Some guy's been targeting the military. But when I heard you where in town I made a priority of visiting you guys,"

Winry laughed slightly. "Let me guess, your shrugging off work to be here,"

"Don't tell the higher ups," Hughes joked in a pretend whisper.

"What about your wife and daughter?" Winry asked. "Are they here?"

"Unfortunately, no," Hughes said sadly. "Gracia ran out of vacation days at her job, and Elicia's daycare teacher claimed that she would sue me if I took the entire family on a last minute vacation again," He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. Something told Winry that the daycare teacher was serious about that threat. "But!" Hughes cheered, pulling out his wallet and letting the section that stored pictures drop down, revealing picture after picture of his wife, daughter, both, or any variable of the family together. "I've got enough pictures to last me the week!" He cried happily, before taking more pictures out of all the places in his uniform that he could possibly store them, and parading them to Winry. Winry seemed to be the only person who didn't complain when Hughes did this, so the two of them often engaged in the activity of oogling over the man's adorable family.

"They've completely forgotten about us," Catherine muttered, feeling somewhat rejected. "I'm her hired assistant, and she's forgotten me,"

"It's so sad that people like us could be so easily forgotten about," The Major agreed with his sister, seeming just as rejected.

"Oh hey, Spaghetti!" Hughes said suddenly.

"Oh right, that's my dinner," Winry replied, glancing at the long noodles.

Hughes stabbed a fork into the bowl, lifting up a large twirl of the pasta and holding it in front of Winry. "You want some?" He asked with a smile.

Hughes had known about Winry's condition for a long time, but thanks to his (somewhat endearing) lack of social skills, he would often be over-friendly and bubbly around strangers, electing to give them hugs instead of handshakes. But even so, that one time Hughes practically leapt across the dinner table with the cookie's she'd been lustfully eyeing in order to hold the treat close enough for her to grab it with her teeth had made Winry feel somewhat welcome into the family. They never even _considered_ the possibility that her disability could be an annoyance, or a burden for them.

Catherine, however, was having none of it. The moment she saw Hughes attempt to give Winry her spaghetti, she kicked him out of the chair, stole the fork and bowl away from him, while screeching at the top of her lungs, tears of rejection flowing from her eyes, "THAT'S MY JOB!"

* * *

Edward walked into Winry's hospital room, saw Alex Luise Armstrong, and then walked out.

"Brother!" Alphonse sighed in exasperation, grabbing the older boy by the hood of his coat and pulling him back into the room.

"Hey, Ed! Hey, Al!" Winry greeted her friends. "Lieutenant Hawkeye stopped by and told me you two were talking to a specialist on Chimera's,"

"Yeah," Ed confirmed. "His name's Shou Tucker, and he's got this really cool mansion, and the biggest, whitest, cutest dog I've ever seen!" He declared.

"Your messing with me!" Winry laughed. "There's no dog that can possibly be cuter than Den!"

"You haven't seen Alexander!" Ed insisted. "He's such a big dog! It's awesome!"

"Mr. Tucker also had a daughter," Al told his friend. "Her name was Nina. She's around five years old, and she's pretty cool,"

"You know what she called me?" Ed asked proudly. " _Big_ brother!"

"Now you're definitely messing with me," Winry quipped, while Ed growled at her with an angry face.

"You two seemed to have fun there," Hughes laughed.

"Oh, hey! Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," Ed greeted, suddenly noticing the extra person in the room. "It's been awhile!"

"A while doesn't even begin to describe it! Look at you! You've grown an inch!" Hughes praised the little blond.

"Really!" Ed cheered. "Alright, that makes two for the people who've noticed I'm big! Admit it Winry! I've grown!"

"Well, I guess being an inch under five feet is better than 4'9", which you where when you where twelve,"

"The past is in the past!" Edward insisted.

"And I see you kid's haven't lost your energy either," Hughes laughed.

"Look at this, they forgot we where here again!" Catherine exclaimed, now feeling offended.

"I never knew beauty could be so easily ignored," Her brother added.

* * *

Winry was released from the hospital late that night. Her injured foot was wrapped tightly in a cast, and she was given a wheelchair to be carted around in. She could've used crutches, but with her lack of grip, she would have a difficult time trying to manage them, so it was decided that the wheelchair would just be more convenient.

Lieutenant Colonel Hughes drove the Elric Crew over to the Tucker mansion early the next morning. Tucker was already waiting to greet them outside.

"Welcome back, boys," Tucker greeted the two Elric brothers. "Which one is your friend?"

"Uh, this is Winry," Ed introduced, gesturing to the yellow-haired girl in the wheelchair. "And this is Catherine, Winry's personal assistant," He gestured to the older girl pushing the wheelchair.

Tucker raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was her hands that she lost movement in, not her legs," He questioned in confusion.

"Oh, this is just a temporary thing," Winry explained in slight embarrassment. "We ran into some trouble on the train from New Optain to here, and I kinda got shot in the foot. I would normally be using crutches, but…" She trailed off.

"That makes sense," Tucker hummed, giving her a nod in understanding. "Your friends spoke very highly of you; I can only assume you three are very close," He said with a smile. "Though, they didn't mention that you had a personal assistant,"

 _There I am! Forgotten again!_ Catherine seethed internally.

"Yeah, I kinda need Catherine to do, well, anything that requires hands, really," Winry explained, seeming a little self-conscious about it.

"Sounds rough," Tucker sighed, eyeing the disabled girl with sympathy-filled eyes. "I told your friends that I may not have what you need, but your welcome to look through any information you may find of value throughout my house,"

"I guess this is where I'll be leaving you," Hughes told the children. "I told Roy that I'd pick you up. We'll be staying at the same hotel, so it'd be pretty convenient,"

"Actually," Catherine said through gritted teeth, "The Armstrong Family has a summer home in this city that we usually stay in. I'll take them to stay there,"

"Oh, you sure?" Hughes asked, seeming a bit disappointed, like a parent who's kid decided to stay the summer at a friends house instead of with them after a year of being away in college. He also seemed painfully oblivious to the suppressed aggression Catherine was aiming at him.

Yes, Hughes was a very nice person, nobody could deny that. But Catherine had always disliked his habit of taking over her job whenever he was around Winry. He wasn't her dad, or her big brother, or her uncle, or her cousin, or even the long-lost half brother, twice removed of her mother's cousin's great aunt! He wasn't even being paid to look after her! Fussing over Winry was her job, _not_ his!

"Positive," Catherine confirmed, her lips pressed into a thin line. "My brother and I are _more_ than capable of taking care of them,"

"Wait, your brother's going to be in the summer home too?" Edward groaned, his face turning green.

"Of corse, where else would he stay while here," Catherine answered.

"Screw that! Lieutenant Colonel, we're staying with _you_ tonight!"

"Alright!" Hughes cheered happily. "I'll pick you guys up around seven! See you then!" And with that, Hughes left.

Catherine instantly slipped into an extremely sour mood.

"I'll help you four all settle in," Tucker said, coming towards Winry to help the still-scowling Catherine take her wheelchair up the steps and into his home. "Nina's still sleeping, so I'll have to ask you four to try to be quiet. She'll probably join you in research when she wakes up, though,"

* * *

A while later, Nina finally woke up, and wondered down to the library, where her dad told her that her new friends where. She groggily creeped into the room, Alexander tailing behind her. Her little legs took her along the hallway, as she looked around at all the big bookshelves. Her daddy had told her that eventually, she might be able to read his alchemy books when she's older. She had already even tried. It was a bit difficult to read such long and complex words, especially with the small font, and sometimes her father's chicken scratch. But it was fun. She remembered picking up a book for the first time, and her parents being proud of her when she read her first word. But that was back when her mom and dad where always yelling at each other. Then her mother left, and her dad became a State Alchemist. Now she lived in a palace, and she read with her daddy every day. But she still missed her mother, and she still wished that she had company. Her dad said that she would be going to school soon, and she would make friends there. But she didn't really want to go to some place that wouldn't let her take Alexander with her.

She came across her two friends, Big Brother, and Al. There where two other girls with them, one sitting in a wheelchair, while the other girl was holding a book page open on the other girls lap. Both had light hair, but one's hair was yellow, while the other one's hair looked close to white.

"Big Brother! Alphy!" Nina cried, running up and jumping onto the two brother's, giving them the biggest hug she could manage with her small arms.

"Hi, Nina!" Al greeted.

"So your back for one more round, mutt," Ed laughed, as Alexander circled the gold-haired teen, licking his face periodically. Ed gave him an affectionate pat. "You just _love_ to break my ribs. Yes you do! Yes you do!"

"Is this Nina and Alexander?" Winry asked.

"Yep," Edward told her. "Hey, Nina," Ed said, getting the little girls attention. "This is my friend, Winry,"

"Hi Winry!" Nina greeted, running up to Winry to check her out. After assessing the older girl, Nina finally concluded; "Your so pretty!"

"Aw, thank you, Nina," Winry said, smiling happily. "I think _your_ pretty too,"

Nina practically glowed with pride. "Really?" She asked happily.

"Really," Winry confirmed

Nina giggled, giving off the radiance of a little ball of sunshine. "Alexander!" She cheered to her dog. "Winry thinks I'm pretty!" She then turned back to the teen. "Do you think Alexander is pretty too?"

Winry laughed. "Of corse," She assured the child. "Alexander is _very_ pretty,"

"Did you here that?!" Nina asked her dog cheerfully. "Winry says your _very_ pretty, Alexander," The little girl then turned to the final stranger in the room. "What's your name?"

"I'm Catherine Elle Armstrong," Catherine told the chocolate-haired girl. "I'm Winry's personal assistant,"

"Why does Winry need assistance?" Nina asked curiously, wanting to know what Winry needed.

"Well, I can't move my hands, so I can't pick up objects or hold them," Winry explained. "If I need to do something, like pick up a spoon, or hold a book, Catherine does it for me,"

"So you can't hold anything!?" Nina said, eyes wide, her little brain trying to comprehend such a new concept. "You can't even hold someone's hand?"

Winry was still wearing a smile, but her eyes held layers upon layers of sadness that Nina was to young to recognize. Even so, the little girl was smarter than she seemed, and could feel that her new friend was sad. "No," Winry told the little girl. "I can't,"

Nina suddenly scrunched up her face in determination, and started ferociously attacking the double-knotted laces that strung up Winry's combat boot on the foot without the cast. She finally got the knot undone after a slight struggle. The older kids did nothing to stop Nina, or interfere with her work. They had a feeling that the task little Nina took on was something Nina had to do herself.

They watched the little girl pull the black boot off of Winry's foot, the shoe looking large in her little hands. It tool a bit of a struggle, and Nina had to go back and try to loosen the boot laces several different times, but eventually it came off. She finally pulled off the green sock, revealing Winry's pale foot, a slight tan-line marking the place on her leg where she normally placed her sock. Nina then pulled off both of her own shoes, then threw off her socks. Her scrunched up face made the task look difficult, but she pulled her own shoes and socks off relatively quickly, at least compared to her attempt to get Winry's shoe off.

Finally, Nina had completed her task, and was ready to reap the results. She sat on the ground, leaning back on her arms, and reached her bare feet out towards Winry's. Finally, the two feet met, and Nina curled her toes, fitting each one of her small one's into the space between Winry's large one. She placed the soul of her remaining foot right on top of Winry's, at the line where her ankle bended, separating the foot from the leg. Nina finally released her facial features, smiling brightly at the teen, proud of her work.

"If you can't hold anyone's hand, them maybe you can hold their feet!" Nina cheered.

Her logic was simply undeniable, as where many of the conclusions that came from the minds of little kids. It was adorable, and touching. Nina wanted to help, make someone happy, do what she could. So she reached a conclusion that only a little, but bright mind can reach. Nina could use her hands, and she couldn't really understand the entirety of Winry's suffering because of her disablement. But if Winry lived in a world where she couldn't hold anybody's hand, Nina knew that she would be sad. If holding someone's hand would make them happy, then feet couldn't be much different, could they?

Edward giggled, and took his own shoe off, his right shoe, and with his flesh foot, he added his toes to the pile around Winry's feet. "Good idea, Nina!" Ed told her. "I couldn't have thought of anything better myself!"

Winry giggled, her chest inflating with happiness. This was nice. This was very nice.

Nina smiled. "Hey, Al!" Nina cried. "Wanna hold Winry's feet too?"

"Well, my foot is a little big," Al told her. "It's kinda heavy and doesn't have toes,"

"Why don't you take your shoe off?" Nina asked innocently.

"Ah, um," Al stammered, excuses flowing in and out of his brain. "I um, I can't,"

"And why not?" The little girl tilted her head as she asked this question, obviously not understanding it. How was she going to, anyways?

"Well, um, it's," Al wondered how he was going to explain it. Her dad already knew, but what was he supposed to say to Nina?

"Well, you understand that Winry can't move her hands, right?"

"Umm-humm," Nina hummed nodding.

"Well, I've got a condition where I can't take my armor off," He explained. "It's kind of a long story,"

"But isn't it heavy?" Nina asked. "Why can't you take it off?"

She seemed genially concerned. With no other idea of what to do, Alphonse gently took the helmet off and let her look inside.

Nina let out a tiny gasp, her young mind unable to fully comprehend what was going on. Where did Alphonse's body go? Was it playing hide-and-seek? If so, where was it hiding? Was the weird metal clothing his body?

"Where is it?" Nina asked, distressed, approaching Alphonse, one foot bare, one foot not, and climbed up towards the rim of the armor. Maybe Al was just really, really, tiny. "Did it get lost?" Nina asked, confused.

"I guess you can say that," Ed said sadly. "Winry, Al and I tried to bring our mom back to life, and that's how we lost it,"

"Did your mom go to heaven?" Nina asked, sitting back down and leaning up against Alexander.

Ed, Al, and Winry exchanged glances. They weren't sure. They couldn't be. How could they know if there was a heaven? They trespassed into God's domain, and all they had seen was Hell.

But Nina didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, our mom wen't to heaven," Ed told her, even though he felt like he was lying through his teeth.

Nina smiled, the answer making her happy. "Then maybe Al's body is in heaven too!" She said with a smile. "I know, we'll build a rocket ship that can go supper fast, and fly it to heaven! Daddy said that heaven is up really high, so we'll have to travel a really long distance. But then we'll get to heaven and find Al's body, and he can have it back," Nina planned, before running around the room with her arms stretched out, making airplane noises. She jumped around in circles, excited, thinking that she had just solved her friends problems. "We'll have to fly so high! It'll be great!"

"And what about your mommy, Nina?" Winry asked. The Elric brother's hadn't told her of the situation with Nina's parents, so she wouldn't know. But she still felt a pit of guilt well up in her stomach when Nina suddenly looked melancholy.

"My mommy's not here. Daddy says she left," Nina said sadly.

"So, your mom left two years ago," Alphonse said. It wasn't a question, but Nina took it as one anyways.

"Uh-huh," Nina hummed "Daddy said she went back to her parents' house,"

"Really?" Al responded. "It must be lonely living in a big house like this with just the two of you,"

"No, it's not!" Nina cheered with a smile, snuffling into her dog happily. "Daddy's nice to me, and I have Alexander, too!" The Elric crew gave a sigh of relief, but their hearts dropped when little Nina's face fell again. "But, lately daddy's always in his laboratory with the door locked, so it's a _little_ lonely,"

The three kids looked at the little girl sadly, memories going in and out of their heads in rapid measure. For Edward and Alphonse, they stared at the large back of their father, when they where too small to even reach the doorknob, as he hunched over his research, refusing to pay them an ounce of attention. And Winry remembered those two long years where her parent's where just not there, and she had to wait for them to come home, only for a stranger in a blue uniform to hand her a letter, saying that she would never see her parents again.

This was the life of children like them. Son's of Alchemist, who choose knowledge over them. Daughters of those on the military draft list. Children who understand that at any moment, they might loose their parents to something unknown to them, that they may not ever understand.

Loss came in too many forms to count.

"Ah man," Ed drawled dramatically, cracking his neck. "All this reading is making my shoulders cramp up. Day after day…" He hummed.

"Exercise is the best cure for shoulder cramps, big brother," Alphonse added, catching on.

"You're right," Ed replied. "I guess I'll go work out a little in the yard," He then turned to the big white dog, who sprung up as soon as it could sense it was getting attention. "Hey, dog," Edward announced. "I'll play with you for exercise!"

"Come on, Nina, you too," Al said to the little girl. Nina giggled in excitement, a swell of happiness growing in her.

Winry sighed, a wry smile on her face. "You two are hopeless. If you want to play with her, why don't you just say so?"

* * *

The four members of the Elric crew chased the little girl around the yard. They played games of castles, and dragons, where the heroic knight Nina Tucker rode her noble steed, Alexander, to the castle, to save the Prince Alphonse from the evil dragon Edward. Knight Nina got ready for royal banquets with the help of Lady Catherine, and Princess Winry, where she would greet her royal guest and dance with Prince Edward and Prince Alphonse (Ed wasn't sure when he changed from an evil dragon to a prince, but he decided not to question it).

They played hide-and-seek around the front yard, an activity that Edward was surprisingly stellar at, though, he would thoroughly deny that it was because of his small size, like Winry had stated.

They went on safari's, trying to find the rare species, Alexander-opix. They had to be careful, since they didn't know if the creature was gentle or aggressive. However, when they found the creature, it jumped on Edward, showing it's aggression. And with that, the teen became a snack for the mysterious creature.

While Nina felt the joy of attention and fun, Edward, Winry, and Alphonse where feeling something entirely different. It was so great to just act like kids again! Spending time in stuffy library's doing hours upon hours of research, while necessary, was incredibly boring. What child liked homework anyways? While some of the things they read could be fascinating, going through the mind-numbing principles and basics was a suffer.

But even more than the release they felt from homework, something that most normal kids had, they felt the joy of simple actions. They where playing games with a little girl and her dog. Not relentlessly chasing after ghost stories. Not taking on military assignments that no teen kid should be involving themselves in. Not battling terrorist, or cultist, or aggressors twice their size and strength. They weren't running from bullets, or trying to protect their damaged bodies from taking on any worse. They where fighting invisible skeleton warriors for buried treasure, not fighting for their lives as impossible odds choked them, and death sped past their heads, leaving a nick, a graze, a scar.

They where just kids. Kids who would rather play than do boring things. Kid's who loved feeling safe. Kids who wanted to create their own adventures where happy endings where guaranteed. Where they knew they would defeat the skeleton warriors and grab the treasure, where they knew they would find the Alexander-opix. Where they knew they would rescue the prince, and dance at the ball, and ride their noble steeds into victory and pleasure. And for a moment, Edward, Alphonse, and Winry could really believe that everything was going to be ok.

Because despite all the hell they've been through, they where still able to enjoy playing with a little girl and her big white dog.

* * *

Tucker sat in his office, where he could see and here the sounds of Nina playing in his front yard. He ripped a page of notes from the book he was writing in, while stress and frustration practically oozed from his face.

No matter what choice he made, Nina wouldn't be able to play in their yard for much longer.

* * *

True to his word, Maes Hughes picked the Elric crew up, and took them to the hotel he was staying at, much to Catherine's dismay. Though, Hughes was blissfully oblivious to the scowl on the young woman's face, or the content glares that she would send his way whenever he would give Winry assistance that normally _she_ would give.

Hughes had gotten three nice rooms in the hotel, despite Ed's insistence that he was fine paying for their own rooms. He got one for himself, and an adjoining room for the Elric crew, girls having one room, and boys having the other. They all conjugated in Hughes' room for a room service dinner.

"Roy told me you guys where consulting Tucker for research," Hughes said as a conversation starter.

"Frankly, we've done more playing with Nina and the dog then research," Ed laughed honestly, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. "But can you blame us? Research can be so boring, sometimes"

"Well, kids do need to be kids," Hughes laughed, giving the young members of the Elric crew a soft smile. "I heard about some of the adventures you guy's have been on since we last saw each other. Sound's like it's been a bit of a rough summer,"

The kids nodded, looking melancholy. "We've run into a lot of dead ends, I guess. We're used to it," Ed sighed, trying to brush it off. He didn't want to remember his feeling of utter hopelessness he experienced at Lior.

"Doesn't mean it's easy to go through," Hughes reasoned. "The world can be awfully shitty sometimes, can't it?"

"Shitty doesn't even begin to describe it," Winry said wryly.

"But hey, you've still got people who'd help you out," Hughes told them. "I know that _I_ would give you all the help you need in your journey,"

"Well, that's not a bad way to look at things," Ed shrugged, smiling a bit. He grabbed the salt shaker and started pouring a small amount of the white crystal onto his chicken and rice. "And one rough summer isn't going to stop us, right?"

"Right," Winry and Alphonse confirmed.

They didn't have much; the world refused to give them that much. But they had each other, and they had all the friends they met on the way who were willing to help them.

* * *

Winry had been moved from her wheelchair and was sitting on the floor of the library, while Catherine held the book she was reading. Nina had been playing with everyone's hair as they did their research, and had finally moved on to Winry.

She had loved playing with Ed's messy curls, and had tied his hair into two low pigtails, which Ed wore with pride, despite the pigtails looking unmanly. She braided Al's corse strands that shot from his armor, and had simply ran her fingers repeatedly through Catherine's near-perfect hair.

However, Nina was growing rather frustrated that she couldn't do a thing with Winry's short, stick-like hair. She had released Winry's bangs from it's clip, but the extra strands had done nothing to help with the style.

"Your hair won't move!" Nina finally announced, giving up, and sitting down with a pout.

"Told you your strands where difficult to work with," Ed quipped.

"And you have _girls_ hair!" Winry insulted back.

"Are you insinuating that these pigtails _don't_ make me look badass," Ed argued

"Language!" Al chastised.

"Daddy said Alchemy can do cool things," Nina pipped in, still upset about being unable to do anything with Winry's hair. "Can you use alchemy to make your hair longer?" Nina asked.

Winry giggled slightly. "Unfortunately, no. Sorry, Nina, but my hair's just going to be like this,"

Nina scrunched up her face, this time in concentration instead of frustration, while the cogs inside her head started to run at a rapid speed. She grabbed Winry's discarded hair clip off the flood, observing it. Taking in data, making calculations.

Her daddy always told her she was a smart girl. Her new friends thought so as well. She was pretty sure Alexander also thought that she was a smart girl, but she wasn't really sure what her dog thought, since she hadn't figured out how to speak his language. She was working on it though. But, anyways, she was a smart girl apparently. She was going to figure out how to style Winry's hair. (She did count what she did with Catherine's hair styling, despite making no difference to the way it was before).

"Oh!" Nina squeaked, an idea finally coming to her. "Come on, Winry, lets go to my room!," She cheered, before running out of the library, occasionally peaking back in to make sure the older girl was following her.

Alphonse picked Winry up and placed her back in the wheelchair, before the three of them pushed the chair out of the library, following Nina, picking up the chair when they needed to climb stairs.

They finally reached Nina's room. It was a mint green, with flowers painted on it, with a pipe-frame twin bed on one side of the room, a pink vanity on the other side of the room, a dresser and a wooden toy chest. In the back of the room was a small cushioned bench that was built into the window still.

Nina stopped the bunch from entering. "No, just Winry!" She declared. The three leftover members looked bitterly rejected.

Nina shut the door as soon as Winry entered the room, then pushed the older girls wheelchair closer to the window. "This is my biggest secrete," Nina whispered, surprisingly quiet for her usual chatterbox nature, and loud cheers. She looked around herself, despite already knowing that Winry was the only one in the room. Nina slipped her little fingers into a thin crevice between the bench and the wall, and opened it up, revealing a chest.

The chest was filled with craft supplies that little children where normally not allowed to have in their room. There was glue, and glitter, adult scissors, and paints, as well as a small collection of rocks. Nina ran to her vanity, grabbing a fresh, plain hair clip (Winry's was old and rusted), before jumping into the chest, and beginning her work.

She held up different sized rocks in front of Winry, assessing their size, and deciding what was best for her craft project. Once she selected one, she coated it with black pain, spilling a bit onto the floor of the chest. She strategically kept her crafting in the chest as to not spill anything on the floor, and give away her secrete supply stash. Winry couldn't help but laugh at Nina's cute determination and clever planning.

Once the rock was black, Nina handed it to Winry, telling her to dry the paint with Alchemy. Winry did so, and Nina promptly took it back. She poured glue onto the top of the rock, and spread it around with her finger, till it coated all the rock except for a small chunk at the top of the head. Once the glue was added, Nina practically dumped red glitter on it. She once again handed it back to Winry to use Alchemy to set the glue, then took it back, and glued it to the hair-clip, which she also had Winry alchemically attach.

The results was a sparkly lady-bug hair clip. A simply gift.

Winry felt like a string was tugging at her heart, but strangely enough, it felt… good. Winry smiled. "I love it," She told Nina.

Those simple words seemed to make the little girl day, and Nina shined brighter than before, if that was possible.

Nina climbed out of the chest, and carefully shut it, making sure it made as little noise as possible. "Promis not to tell anyone about my chest?" Nina pleaded to the older girl.

Winry didn't even think about giving away Nina's source of creativity and ingenuity. Nina made things. Winry remembered that was how she first gained her passion for automail; she made things. She made things for her parents, for Ed and Al, for Granny, and Aunt Trisha, and eventually, she fell in love with the idea of making limbs for people who had lost theirs.

Her dream was lost now, but it still warmed her heart to see a little girl creating.

"I promise," Winry confirmed. "I won't tell a soul,"

Nina smiled brightly, giggling, before running to her bedroom door and opening it. "You can come in now!" She cried.

"Finally," Ed muttered. "What took so long?"

"Look at what Nina made for me," Winry cheered, gesturing to the lady-bug hair clip that laid in her lap. A simply trinket, but Winry was smiling as if she had been given the world.

Winry's smile was contagious, because Ed started smiling, and soon Catherine. Alphonse made light giggles in happiness, and soon, all five of them where having fits of giggles, feeling incredibly joyful, despite being unsure where this joy had come from. They laughed as the sun began to set, and didn't stop laughing until Shou Tucker entered the room.

"There you guys are," He said, laughing slightly, looking relived. He must've been worried when they suddenly disappeared from the library. "I've been looking for you guys,"

"Is it time for us to be picked up?" Ed asked.

"No, I just got worried," Tucker laughed. "But it was only a matter of time before Nina took you kids to her room,"

"Oh, daddy!" Nina cheered, grabbing the lady-bug clip off of Winry's lap, and showing it to her father. "Look at this! I made it for Winry!"

"Wow," Tucker said, sounding impressed, eyeing the craft project. Though, he seemed a bit confused as to _how_ Nina was able to make something from glue and glitter despite his rule that she was supposed to _ask_ before she used those things. But he decided he would talk to Nina about it later. "Impressive, Nina. It's amazing that you can make something as cool as that at such a young age. Your so talented, kiddo," He ruffled his daughters hair. Nina giggled, her ever-growing smile taking on a new size. "It's time for dinner, now. Go wash up," Tucker commanded, giving her a small squeeze, before Nina gave her dad the affirmative, and ran off, holding her arms out and making airplane noises. Tucker turned to the four members of the Elric crew, giving them a soft and grateful smile.

"Thank you so much for looking after Nina these past few days," Tucker said. "I've been pretty busy, so I haven't had much time to take care of her. You four have been a big help with that,"

Winry gave him a soft smile. "No problem. We like hanging out with her,"

"And your dog is really amazing!" Edward declared. He suddenly went quiet. "Your state license assessment is tomorrow, right?"

Tucker nodded, his face aging right before their eyes. "Before I got my license, we had practically nothing. We were extremely poor. My wife couldn't stand that life; we argued all the time. She left eventually. I don't think I could ever go back to that life,"

"Do you have anything planned for your assessment?" Alphonse asked curiously.

"Nothing," Tucker said sadly. "I don't have anything worth presenting. I'm going to loose my license, unless I can somehow whip up something impressive overnight,"

"Why don't you make another talking chimera," Ed suggested.

Tuckers eyes seemed to dull, a hint of pain inside them. "It's a complicated process. Requires a lot of sacrifice. I'm not sure if I can do it again,"

The Elric crew decided not to press anything. "I'm sorry," Winry said sadly. _Is the world really just that cruel?_ She wondered.

"Well…" Ed hummed. "If you need any financial support or anything, feel free to ask me. You know how much money the State Alchemist program gives you. I'm fifteen and I'm filthy rich!"

"And my family would be happy to take care of you!" Catherine offered.

"It not just the basics that I'm worried about, though," Tucker confessed. "I'm glad to know that if everything fails, I'll have people to rely on to give us a roof over our heads, food, and even school for Nina. But…" Tuckers eyes looked distant, filled with a broken passion. "I love to understand the world, and create new things. It's been my passion since I was young. Without access to the research material and the lab equipment that a State license can supply you, I'll never be able to fulfill myself,"

They all could emphasize with the man, Winry especially. "Well," The yellow-haired teen hummed, trying to find a bright side through the pain. How could such a kind family, who'd been so wonderful towards them, have to suffer? "I can't really do the things I love doing because of my hands. But, I've got Edward and Alphonse… and Catherine, and my granny, and so many other people who support us. You've got Nina. What else is there to ask for?"

Tucker gave them a melancholy smile, taking their words to heart. Even still, his last resort still danced in the back of his mind, pounding its heavy feet into his brain, stabbing it with their toes. Even as he invited the group to have dinner with himself and Nina, the choice didn't leave him for a second. It sat there, staring at him, refusing to leave him alone.

"Nina, my assessment is tomorrow, you know," Tucker told her. "I might not get my license back. We might not live in this house any longer,"

"Don't worry daddy!" Nina declared confidently. "You'll do great! And if those old men try to take away your license, Alexander and I will growl at them until they give it back!"

"Yeah, you show 'em, Nina!" Alphonse cheered her on.

Laughs and giggles echoes throughout the dinning room, and Tucker forced some air out along with them. These genius kids, who had barely been in his life for three days, yet he had already gotten attached to. His daughter, who shined with an impossible light, and who held so much potential. These children could do great things, and he didn't want to hinder that in the slightest. His daughter was smart, determined, and creative. She could also do great things.

In the end, it all came down to which he valued more; his dream, or the other people who had came into his life. That was all. That was the only thing he had to choose.

The choice seemed so obvious. Why did the other option still linger in his mind?

"Hey, Nina," Tucker suddenly said, his voice cutting through the silence. The children sensed no tension, no dread. To them, the air was as light and fluffy as cotton candy. But for Shou Tucker, everything felt extremely heavy. "Do you want to play with Daddy tomorrow?"

"Really!?" Nina cheered, her sapphire orbs lighting up with pure joy, glowing as if made from real crystal. "Yay!" She cheered, jumping into her daddy's lap, the happiness inside her threatening to break apart her tiny body from it's sheer volume. "You here that, Alexander!?" Nina called to her dog. "Daddy says he's going to play with me tomorrow,"

The Elric crew smiled. There wasn't anything Tucker could do about his license, or at least they thought so. But, that was okay. He would spend his final day in the large house playing with his daughter, and giving her the happiest time he could before they lost it all. Well, not all. They would still have each other.

The world was cruel, but people where good. At least there was _that_ truth.

It never once occurred to them that it could be a lie.

* * *

Hughes dropped them off at the Tucker's estate the next day. Oddly enough, nobody was in the yard to greet them, but the door was unlocked, so Ed just let himself in, with Winry, Catherine, and Alphonse following them.

The sky was an awful shade of gray, and the overcast clouds seemed to be weighted down with thousands of pounds of rain water which it had yet to shed loose. The wind blew harder than normal, dousing the front yard in a sheet of cold. The Elric crew wasn't surprised. The heat and blue sky's of summer had to end eventually. Though, it was unfortunate that the rain chose today of all days to starts its downpour. Nina had really wanted to play outside.

"It's gonna rain for sure today," Ed grumbled.

The small crew wondered the hallways. The house was entirely still. It seemed as if not even the dust in the air was moving. It was if someone had turned off the sound in the Tucker estate entirely.

"Hello?" Alphonse called out. "Mr. Tucker? It's us again!"

"Maybe they're not home," Ed reasoned as they continued to wonder around.

It was possible that Nina was sleeping, which wouldn't surprise the kids. She didn't seem to be that much of a morning person, even at her young age. But why was everything so quiet? Where was Mr. Tucker, and the sound of shuffling papers, or dishes clinking in the sink? Where was the pitter-patter of Alexander's feet on the ground? The lights in the house where all off, and every sound that the members of the Elric crew made seemed as if it was cutting through layers upon layers of quiet. Worry began to build up in their hearts. What if something happened to them? There were no broken windows, and everything seemed like it was in it's place. But even so, there could've been some sort of house invasion. What if they had gotten hurt somehow?

"Mr. Tucker?!" They called out, their panic hidden by a thin layer of confusion. "Nina?!"

The four of them wondered through the library, and Tucker's lab, before coming across a slightly opened door to a room they hadn't been into before. The room was pitch black, but, much to the relief of the kids, they could see Tucker sitting on the ground in the small amount of life that streamed in.

The Elric crew felt a huge weight lift off their chest. Everything was okay. "Hey, there you are!" Ed cheered, unable to disguise his happiness and relief.

"Oh, it's you guys!" Tucker said, with a perk in his voice that they hadn't yet heard from him. "Look," He told them eagerly. "It's my newest creation," The door fully opened, allowing light to stream into the room, revealing a white creature with a dirt brown horse-like mane, and white eyes, that lacked both pupils and irises. Like many other chimera's the young alchemist's had seen, it was somewhat uncanny, though that was expected. "It's a chimera that talks like a human," That was a little less expected.

Ed, Al, and Winry's eye's all widened at the never-before-seen alchemical achievement. They stared at the chimera in awe. An animal that they could talk to! How cool was that?

"Watch this," Tucker instructed, before looking down at the chimera. "This person is Edward," Tucker told the creature, pointing at the small teen. "Understand?"

"Ed… ward," The chimera said, in a deep voice, with some amount of struggle.

"That's right! Very good!" Tucker complimented the thing, petting it's head.

"I can't believe it!" Ed stated in awe, moving closer to it, getting an up-close look. The creature looked so natural! There weren't even any rectangle-shaped transmutation marks on it! "It really talks!"

"Uh-huh!" Tucker laughed, sighing in relief, as if Ed had just confirmed that his achievement had not been a dream. "I'm glad that I made it in time for the assessment! This just saved my neck. And when the grant money kicks in, I won't have to worry about research cost for a while,"

Ed bend onto one knee, and looked at the thing. It started to say his name again. Repeating it over and over. The teen looked it over curiously. How could he have possibly done it.

"Mr. Tucker," Ed heard Winry ask from behind him, though he wasn't paying much attention. "Do you mind if we go to the library for research now? This room's kinda cold…"

Now that she mentioned it, the room was cold. Ed could feel a chill running up his spine. The cogs inside his head where moving in speeds he had never seen them move before, but he wasn't sure why.

"Edward," The chimera said. "Edward. Edward. Edward. Big brother Ed,"

A jolt of shock pulsed through Ed's body. How would the chimera possibly know to call him that? The only one the thing could've learned this term from was Alphonse, but Al had been silent since they came into the room. Something wasn't right. Who could this chimera possibly know who said those words?

Maybe it was Nina.

Nina.

Ed's heart began to beat as the cogs sped up. Faster and faster and faster. He couldn't breath; all the oxygen had left the room. No, no, no, no, no, no. It couldn't be. He wouldn't.

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't happening.

This was wrong. This wasn't what happened. He didn't, he wouldn't, nobody could, nobody would do something like this.

But it did happen. The proof was right in front of him.

Edward's gold irises grew smaller and smaller, as strings pulled at his heart, juicing it; squeezing the life out of it.

"Mr. Tucker," Ed said, the word coming out of his mouth like a machine. His lips where moving, but he wasn't saying anything. He wasn't in control of his body. It was no longer his. He couldn't feel a thing. "When was it that you got your license? By making the first chimera that spoke human words?"

"Uh," Tucker responded. "That was two years ago,"

"And when did your wife leave?"

"That was two years ago too," Tucker whispered, sounding nervous.

"Can I ask you one more question?" Ed spoke, touching the chimera lightly. The white, soft fur, same as the best dog he had ever met. The brown silky hair, same as a bright little spirit who had done her best to bring joy to the kids, who placed bandages on their hearts, after they had been stabbed thousands of times. Why? " _What happened to Nina and Alexander?"_

The realization then hit Alphonse, Winry, and Catherine. Alphonse was stuck, frozen in place. Catherine fainted. Winry lifted her hands to her mouth, as she felt vomit try to force its way up. She ran out of the room, ignoring her cast-covered foot.

A silence hung in the air, forming into a hand, ready to trigger a bomb blast.

"I hate perceptive brats like you," Tucker said. No words of denial. No way to believe that maybe he was still the kind father who welcomed them into his family that they thought he was. The illusion fell. The bomb went off.

All the energy that Edward had was put into one jump, as he grabbed Shou Tucker by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the wall with a nasty thud. Edward could swear he could smell blood, but weather it was because of the sheer amount of blood rushing to his head or if he had made Tucker bleed, Ed wasn't sure. He could feel his body again, as every cell screamed in agony. It was a similar sensation as to what he felt on _that_ day. The feeling of dread, helplessness, and pain. But that day, everything was out of their control. They couldn't do a thing. Ed could do something now. He could do something to Tucker. He could make him hurt. Make him feel pain. He could beat him to a bloody pulp. Crush his skull in. Break every bone in his body. Take his life, just like he took Nina's.

"SO THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED!" Ed screamed. His little brother might have called out to him, but he couldn't hear a thing over the sound of his blood boiling. His body felt hot, despite the room's freezing temperature. His blood boiled and turned into vapor, and the vapor entered his lungs and made him choke. Edward felt as if he where drowning, as adrenaline sped it's corse. His fight against Tucker felt like a fight for his life.

"YOU SCUM! HOW COULD YOU?!" Ed screamed, his eyes burning as hot, angry tears threatened to spill. And they might of, if he were not so practiced at not crying when he needed to.

The world was shitty. But people where good. People where good, and Tucker was good. He was good to them, and he was good to Nina. He was supposed to be good. How could something that was supposed to be good betray them like this?

"TWO YEARS AGO IT WAS YOUR WIFE!" Ed continued to shout, not knowing what else to do. "THIS TIME YOU MADE A CHIMERA OUT OF YOUR OWN DAUGHTER AND HER DOG!"

Al had been hoping that nobody would say the truth out loud. That the full shock of what had happened would never fully set in. But now it was there, and Alphonse felt dizzy. If he had a human body, he probably would've fainted, just like Catherine had seconds earlier. But his armored body kept him in place, and Alphonse was left to suffer through the haze without really feeling it.

"Isn't that right?!" Ed continued to scream, his voice laced with pain. "Because there's only so much you can do by experimenting on animals! Humans are _so much better_. AM I RIGHT!?"

Edward wanted Tucker to say he was wrong. To say that he didn't just torment a child - his own child, - for some sadistic curiosity.

But with what Tucker said next, Edward honestly would've rather he just full out agreed with his statement.

"Why are you so mad?" Tucker squeezed out, Edwards left hand pressing into his throat making words difficult. "The progress of medicine; the progress of human knowledge! Is the _result_ of experimenting on humans! Someone has do do it! As a scientist, you should be the first to—"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Ed hollered, feeling as if he had just been stabbed. His organs where being ripped apart by something unseen. He could practically feel his skin break in half, as his intestines spilled to the floor, creating their marks of blood and struggle, leaving nothing but a walking corpse who continued to fight for it's life despite the fact that it should be dead. Edward had to make Tucker suffer. He would rip Tucker apart, and steal his internal organs, and use them to replace the one's he had just lost. He would sew his skin together with threat and needle made from fire and brimstone, and become an entity of hate; a part of the hell he was now trapped in. "Do you think your going to get away with this!?" He screamed in agony. "Playing around with people's _lives_!?"

"People's lives?" Tucker questioned, before he started to laugh, each fit of air coming through his throat, which Edward continued to press harder into, feeling like a saw cutting through Ed, making him bleed. Hadn't he already bled enough? Did Tucker insist he bleed more?

He did. He so most definitely did.

"Yes, people's lives! You're the _Fullmetal Alchemist_! Look at you! Your arm, your leg, your brother! Not even your best friend was able to escape what you did! That's also the result of playing around with people's lives, isn't it!?"

Edward landed his first punch, feeling the satisfying squish of a broken nose, and the slight displacement of a jaw. He would crack through that skull, because Tucker insisted on draining every last drop of blood Edward had, and he had to kill this parasite before it killed him.

Tucker's laugh only grew louder. That punch proved him right. "You and I are just the same!"

"That's not true!" Ed cried, his voice breaking, and in place of shedding tears, his eyes turned into orbs of liquid, as the brilliant gold dulled and rusted and burned.

"Your no different than _I_ am!" Tucker continued to taunt. "You thought you could do it, so you _did_!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Ed screamed again. He only wanted to see his mother's smile again. He only wanted to be able to run to Winry's house and be greeted by the Rockbell's again. He only wanted his mother to come back to life! Where was the sin in that? Didn't everyone who lost someone share the same hope and desire. Wouldn't anyone break down in tears of joy if a lost loved one suddenly came back again, and was able to hold them again, comfort them, talk to them, laugh with them, cry with them?! _I didn't mean to! I swear I didn't mean to do any of this!_

"You couldn't help by try, even if it was forbidden! In fact, _because it's forbidden_!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Ed wailed, performing every physical action done when crying except for shedding tears. His body cried in agony, burning over a million degrees. His nose ran, his heart broke into bits, and his organs where torn out and squeezed lifeless.

Tucker did something horrible to his own daughter. Where alchemist just like that? Would he have done the same to himself, Al, or Winry if he had the chance?

And what about Edwards own father. Who barely came out of his library. Who constantly poured his time into alchemy, then suddenly left them. Their father was an alchemist. Would he do something as cruel? Would they have woken up one day to find their mother turned into some sort of alchemical monstrosity. And what if he did the same thing to Ed. It would be painful, Ed was sure, but what else. Would he be suffering eternally the whole time not understanding _why!?_ The sting of betrayal was already too much, making the teen feel as if he where going to drown in a vat of black tar. He could steel see Tucker through that tar, and the tar strangely enough didn't slow down his automail fist, which pounded into Tuckers face.

"WE ALCHEMIST!" He felt Tucker's jaw break. "WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" He felt vast amounts of blood shoot from the bad man's head. "WE'D NEVER…"

Ed couldn't even finish. He would never do that. _He would never do that_!

But he did. He committed an atrocity, and his brother and friend paid for it. He had destroyed Alphonse's body. Al could never again feel warmth, cold, pain, anything, he couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep, he couldn't feel his brothers high-fives, or fist bumps, or shoulder pats, or hugs, or anything. He destroyed Winry's hands. If they had been severed, like his arm or his leg, then Winry could've gotten automail hands. But no, the only parts of them stolen where her neurons. And she could pick things up, or hold things, touch things, do things by herself. She loved automail so much but because of him she would never be able to enjoy her passion.

This was all his fault. This was all his fault.

He was a monster. Humans where monsters. They suck the life out of everything, break precious gifts they're given. They destroy, and they destroy, and they destroy. And Alchemist where the worst of them all. "I'D NEVER!" He screamed again, blood on his face, his fist ready for another swing.

But it was stopped. And he heard the firm voice of his baby brother. Solid as a rock. Always ready to pull Edward into himself whenever the world got to big for the little boy, and when Ed needed something to shelter and protect him. He didn't deserve it. "Edward, any more and you'll kill him,"

And the tar faded away. Ed's organ no longer laid on the floor, but he wasn't sure where they went, because they still where not in his body. And all the energy, rage, and adrenaline left. The fight for his life was over. The enemy would not kill him. But Edward had not won. He could never win. Not with something like this.

Ed finally let go of Tucker, his knee's feeling like jello, as he fell to the floor, practically fainting, but not loosing consciousness. Al picked his big brother up, and moved him away from Tucker. Al felt as if he had been destroyed, but he wouldn't snap. Not like Edward had anyways. He would grieve as he always had; silently, and away from the eyes of his brother and Winry. Winry had always been open about her emotions. Al supposed it was some sort of a girls thing. Edward tried his best to act tough, but he was such a terrible liar, and Alphonse could always tell when his poor brother wanted to cry, but wouldn't. Alphonse, however, couldn't grieve in front of them. He was the heart. They did so much for him. If Alphonse lost hope, then so would Ed and Winry. He couldn't do that to them. He would _never_ do that to them. Not even now. They needed someone.

"Pretty words don't get anything done,"

Alphonse stayed in control. He wouldn't lash out. He couldn't. Not here, not now, not ever. But he had to shut that bad man up. He had to shut him up. Because he couldn't afford to let his brother fall apart any more. It was why he stoped Ed from killing Tucker. And it was why Alphonse couldn't finish the job himself.

Edward would become nothing but a shell of himself if his baby brother became a killer.

"Mr. Tucker," Alphonse said, keeping his voice even. In control. Stable. "If you say one more word, this time _I'll_ be the one to snap,"

Tucker didn't say another word.

Alphonse sat down next to Nina. Ed was close by. "Nina," he whispered to her, kind and gentle. He touched her face lightly. She didn't deserve this! She didn't deserve this! Alphonse felt himself fall apart, but he still kept his voice even, even as his armored body rattled and his voice cracked, as if he had fallen into a pit of despair-filled sobs. "I'm sorry, we don't have the skill right now to turn you back to normal! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Wanna play?" Nina asked innocently.

Alphonse's body continued to rattle, while Ed started to wail. There was nothing they could do.

There was nothing they could do.

* * *

When Winry was young, she had once bared witness to Alphonse falling from a tree, and knocking himself out cold. Edward had panicked, and had started sobbing in his spot, unsure what to do. But Winry, despite being teased often for being a crybaby, didn't cry, strangely enough. Instead, she ran to her house, grabbed her mother, and took her to Alphonse. She ran for help. And she got the help she needed.

Winry had always done this, whenever she faced a problem she couldn't solve. She would run to find the person who could. It was what she had done for so long.

Recently, however, she had stopped. She didn't have anyone she could run to. She still didn't, even now. So why was she running? She was desperate to find someone, anyone, who could save Nina. She had to find Mr. Tucker. He was good at creating chimera's, so surely he would be able to turn one back into it's original form?

But it was Mr. Tucker who had done such a horrid thing to Nina in the first place. She couldn't run to adults anymore. She couldn't run to anyone.

So she ran to a place. She ran to Nina's room, and opened the secrete compartment that Nina had where the little girl had stored all her arts and crafts supplies. She ran to the room where Nina had made her the lady-bug clip, because she was determined to find some way to style Winry's short, straight hair. Where she went to do the impossible, at least in her young mind.

Winry sat down in the compartment. Her foot throbbed in pain from running on it, despite the injury, but she didn't care. It was becoming numb. Everything felt numb. She couldn't feel the wood the chest was made from. She couldn't feel the ground. She couldn't feel anything.

This spot was the place where Nina could do the impossible. Could Winry do the impossible here. Would she climb out of the chest to discover that everything was fine? That this was just a bad dream. She couldn't exactly pinch herself, but it wasn't like she was feeling anything at the moment. It was gone. The room, her body, the world was gone. She floated through an endless abyss, feeling nothing, seeing nothing, and thinking nothing.

She was in a place hidden from everyone. Nobody could find her. The soldiers looked. Alphonse had called them in, and explained what had happened. Ed and Al where taken to Eastern command. Catherine was collected by her big brother, and taken to the Armstrong summer home to recover. The poor young woman had broken out in a fever.

And Winry stayed in the chest, no thoughts entering her head, nothing registering. It was if the world had died.

What was this feeling? Despair? Betrayal? Guilt? Anguish? Hate? Maybe all of them. Maybe it took a combination of too many negative feelings to drain her energy like this.

Finally, a thought did play through her head. It was of the chimera that was once Nina, but it was mushed together with the _thing_ that Aunt Trisha had become when they tried to bring her back. It sat on a human transmutation circle, and she, Alphonse, and Edward sat around it. She had lost the neurons in her hands, and it seemed like the _thing_ they saw wanted to finish the job, because she sat limp and unmoving, in an entirely vegetable-like state. Edward was missing both his shoulders, and the entire second half of his body, internal organs falling out what was left of him. And all that was left of Alphonse was a puddle of blood.

Reality suddenly seeped back into Winry's mind. It was a nightmare. She didn't even need to fall asleep and she had a nightmare. But why was she surprised? She was living in one. She could swear on her parent's graves that she was living one.

* * *

"If there ever truly was 'the work of the devil,' then this was it," Riza Hawkeye said to Roy Mustang, as the two walked down the steps of Eastern command, where Ed and Al were sitting. The clouds had finally let loose, and water pelted the earth like bullets. The two military members had been outside for only a few seconds and they where already soaked to the bone. Edward sat on the cold, wet, steps, curled up into himself. If Mustang didn't know better, he would've mistaken the little boy for a large sponge.

"'The devil?'" Mustang scoffed. "To put it bluntly, _all_ state alchemist are nothing but the military's human weapons. We do what they want, we obey orders, and we don't complain if our hands get dirty in the process. My point being, that wen it comes to messing with human lives, Tuckers actions aren't so different from our own," Worse atrocities had been committed.

But that didn't mean that the grieving and traumatized little children had to know just yet. "That's the logic of an adult, sir," Hawkeye said firmly. "Even though Edward acts older than his years, he's still a child," Her voice read, _don't you dare forget that_.

But it seemed like Mustang thought it didn't matter. And in a few way's, he was right. Even still, Hawkeye did have a point. "Yes, but the path that he's chosen will no doubt lead to hardships greater than he faced today. He has to move forward, even if it means forcing himself to understand," Mustang stopped at the steps the Elric brother's where sitting on. He made a mental note to have a similar talk with Winry once they found her. "Isn't that right, Fullmetal?"

Silence.

"How long do you plan on staying depressed?"

"Be quiet," Ed chocked out, though his heart wasn't in his words. He didn't _want_ to move on. Not yet. He couldn't just forget this. How could he forget a girl like Nina? How could he forget what happened to her? It was branded onto his very skin with a iron from hell.

"Even though people call you a 'Dog of the military', and a 'devil', it was _you_ who choose to keep studying alchemy. You _chose_ to join the military, when you could have live the rest of your life as best you can with the body you have. Can you afford to be held back by something so small?"

 _You act like we had a choice_. Ed thought. _Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! All you adults! All you alchemist and your bullshit words and lies! You act as if this is nothing! You act as if you can play god with all your bullshit!_

"Something so small," Ed growled. "You're right. People may call us dogs, or devils, but Winry, Al, and I _will_ get our original bodies back.

"But we're not devils,

"Or Gods"

Edward finally stood up, shouting up to the sky. "WE'RE HUMAN!" He screamed, those two words filled with a symphony, no, an orchestra, all playing a song of pain that screamed even louder and echoed more painfully than the song his automail arm played. All the bitter notes, the echoes, the strings, the winds, the drums, the singers, the bang on the pitch-black piano. It was all there. "WE CAN'T EVEN SAVE ONE LITTLE GIRL!"

He looked down, his body racking with sobs again. Still no tears, but the movement was unmistakable. "We're just pathetic human being!" He wailed.

Mustang sighed. He got a front row seat to the orchestra, but it wasn't his first. And frankly, he was tired of getting those tickets. "Go home and rest," He commanded the young boys. "You'll catch a cold. The MP's will find Winry soon enough,"

* * *

Winry touched her face with the back of her wrist. She hadn't cried yet. This was new. She usually cried. But this time she went numb. She wondered what made a difference.

There where strange sounds coming from the room above the one she was in. Like a machine programed to do so, she left the chest and followed it. She arrived at the Tuckers attic.

Lightning lit up the room, blinding her for a second. It then faded to the grey light pouring through the window. The smell of blood and freshly demolished flesh invaded her nose.

In the center of the room stood a tall, muscular man. He had brown skin, and a tuff of thinning white hair at the top of his head, where the rest of it was nearly shaved off. He was clad in black pants, a T-shirt, and a yellow letter jacket, as well as a pair of darkly tainted sunglasses. But what stood out the most was a large x-shaped scar in the middle of his forehead.

At his feet where the bodies of both Shou Tucker, and the newly deformed Nina. Surrounding them was a large pool of blood

Winry fell to her knees, and puked up all that was in her guts. When she had nothing more to throw up, she continued to dry heave. The man with the scar simply watched her, not moving.

Winry finally stopped dry-heaving. "You killed her," She whispered. "You killed Nina!"

"This creature?" The man questioned, referring to the chimera. Winry gave him a small nod. "If it would make you feel better, I killed them both quickly. They wouldn't have felt a thing,"

"But she could've been saved!" Winry cried. "Someone could've saved her! If we found an alchemist skilled enough—"

"The process could not be undone," The man told her. "She would've spent the rest of her life as a lab experiment,"

"But what right did you have to take away her life!?" Winry screamed, her head still facing the ground. "What right does anybody have to kill people!? To ruin people?! To cause pain!?"

The man with the scar said nothing, walking past her, towards the exit. "I came here to kill Shou Tucker," He explained. "I did not expect to come across such tragedy,"

Something clicked in Winry's head. Maes Hughes had said he came out East tracking a murderer who had been targeting the military.

"Your the killer who's been targeting military members," She stated, her voice barely above a whisper. "Mr. Hughes told me about you,"

The man with the scar looked back at her. "The only members of the military I intend to destroy are the State Alchemist. All the others are simply those who get in the way of my mission,"

"So your killing State Alchemist," Winry concluded. Something dark was slipping into her voice. Her entire body shook, as terror coursed through her blood. She felt cold as ice. And the ice burned. "Have you heard of the _Fullmetal Alchemist?_ Surely you have. He's the youngest state alchemist ever. His name is Edward Elric. He thinks he's a good artist, but he's really not. He can't sing for shit, but he can play the piano like nobody else. He's scared of needles, and spiders. He loves dogs. He hates milk, and he hates it when people call him short. His favorite food is vanilla ice cream, and he loves carrot cake. He has a baby brother that he takes care of. He does his best to protect us. He's a bit rough around the edges, but he's a good kid. He's a really good kid. Are you telling me you plan to kill Ed too?"

"And what if I am?" The scarred man asked, somewhat curious.

Winry stood up, her body trembling, a white-hot fury raging through her bones. She _hated_ this world. A world that mangled a sweet girl and her dog. A world that caused this child's death. A world that intended to make her, Ed, and Al suffer for eternity.

She would never find heaven, but _by god_ , she would raise hell.

She turned to face the man, both twice her size and probably twice her age. She was picking a fight she couldn't win. But, she didn't care. "You better not lay a hand on Edward!" She demanded. "You better not! You tell me right here, right now! That you won't touch Edward!"

The man looked at her, disbelieving. "Child or not, he is a State Alchemist, who's turned his back on God. For this, he shall perish,"

"GOD'S A FUCKING BASTARD!" Winry screeched. She then spread her arms out, her gloved fingers held flat, palms charging with energy. She just needed to complete the circle. Create a circle from her body and activate an impossible transmutation. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Winry threatened. "I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW IF IT MEANS PROTECTING HIM FROM YOU!" Angry tears began to pour down her face. So now they were finally coming out. "I can transmute without a circle!" Winry declared. "All I have to do is clap my hands, and I'll turn the floor into pikes. I can kill you! Easily! And I will, to protect Edward!"

The man didn't even flinch. "Go ahead and do it, then," He told her.

Something heavy weighted on Winry's chest, threatening to crush her; crumble her to dust. It was painful, constricting. Her entire body shook, and it felt as if someone where pushing dozens of pins into her eyes. Her arms shook as her hands drew closer together, palms at the ready. She would make the transmutation. She would kill this man, and saved her friends life.

The three of them had promised their dead parents that they wouldn't kill. Did this promis really mean anything when killing was the only option?

There where always another choice. Her parents, her granny, and her teacher had told her that. She and her two best friends had believed that. She had every reason to end this killer's life before he had a chance to end Edwards. But, if she did…

If she did, she would never be able to look him in the eye. She wanted her hands back. She would be able to hold his hand when she got them back. But if she killed, she couldn't again touch him, or anyone for that matter. She would never soil his brilliant body with the hands of a killer.

If she killed this man, she could save Ed's life. But if she did, she would loose both Ed and Al forever.

Winry let her hands drop, as she curled into herself, sobbing lightly.

"Good choice," The man told her. "I walk a difficult path, and I have ended many lives. I would never wish such a path on a child,"

He left.

Winry walked over to Nina's dead body. Her injured foot throbbed in pain. The feeling where coming back to her, finally. It was almost to much.

Winry fell to her knees, lifting her head to the ceiling, and screamed her own painful orchestra. a song of pain that consisted mostly of a choir, and longed for a world better than her own. She felt like she were drowning. This world dragged, and it dragged her _down_. Down to the very bottom of the ocean. And when she landed on the sandy bottom, she could do nothing but stare into the abyss of dark water, where no speck of light could shine through. It was so dark down there. But it was where she was. And if the world insisted that she belonged there, then she will stay. She would waste and wither away and become a part of the sand; a part of the ocean of pain. This was all she could do. She couldn't save Nina. She couldn't save anybody. She was an Alchemist; a creature of science. An offspring of arrogance. Alchemist where monsters. Alchemy destroyed, caused tragedy. Made the bile rise through her throat and out her mouth. She all she could do was destroy.

All that was left for her to do was destroy. And she hated it.

* * *

Winry finally left the Tucker estate, walking towards Eastern Command in the rain. Her cast was turning red. It seemed she finally reopened the wound from walking on it so much. Her skin was cold as ice.

Edward and Alphonse sat in a bedroom at the Armstrong's summer home, hoping that Winry was okay.

Three children suddenly had nothing but black sky's and brimstone.

Tomorrow was another day.

* * *

 **So. That was a thing.**

 **Writing this scene gave me physical pain. I hope it was worth it.**

 **I've never tackled the Nina scene in my fanfictions before, but I think I did a good jobs. I tried my best to describe the vivid emotions the kids had gone through. Maybe I overdid it?**

 **While I was writing all the happy parts, I felt a bit guilty, like I was leading my readers on. For that, I apologize.**

 **Anyways, read and review, and all that shit. Tell your friends about it. Let the internet appreciate it.**

 **And most importantly, happy October 3rd! I hope my fellow FMA fans had a wonderful FMA day! I know I did, despite everything.**

 **I'm gonna go cry in a corner now.**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hello! I am back! Sorry this chapter took a while to update. Life has been hectic.**

 **Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. You definitely made my pain writing last chapter worth it!**

 **Now, this chapter is when things start to be different from Cannon. No full-on plot changes yet, but changes in events, so to speak. You'll see what happens anyways.**

 **Last chapter, the Nina Tucker incident happened. This chapter, we get to watch the aftermath. Which means I get to torture myself a bit more. Yippie.**

 **Whatever. Just read the chapter, and tell me what you think. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist is not mine. Boo.**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Right Hand of Destruction

* * *

There was a tomato field down near the sheep farm in Risimbule, where Trisha had often gone to pick the plump red fruits. The field also had an old, rusted water pump, that some of the poor families in Risimbule; the one's who couldn't afford the running water that the Elrics and the Rockbell's had; would use to collect their freshwater for the day. The pump was still dripping with water from the last family who used it; most likely the Siehen family, who's daughter, Jane, was in the same pre-school class as the Elric brother's and Winry, and who Winry shared a bitter rivalry with because Jane had once knocked down a tower that Winry had made from sticks, since she claimed that Winry was "messing up the school yard" with her creation.

Edward could've been patient, and waited for his mother to come home with the tomatoes before showing her what he made, but he couldn't wait that long. He ran down the hill where his house sat, past the sheep farm, and the graveyard, where Granny Pinako's husband laid, resting in the dirt. Where Alphonse had thrown a fit, because they couldn't burry their dead cat in the graveyard with the rest of the other humans.

Edward ran into the tomato field, past the old water pump, where it still continued to drip, shouting in excitement, and nearly tripping over himself in the process.

"Mom, mom!" He shouted happily. "Mom, come look!

His mother turned to face him, where she held a pile of tomatoes gathered together in her apron. "What is it, Edward?" She asked kindly, laughing slightly that he had run all the way from their home to the field just to show her something.

Edward giggled, showing her his creation. A little horse made from paper, clay, and alchemy. "It's a present!" He told his mother.

Trisha gently scooped the horse into her hands. During a dinner conversation not so long ago, her boys had been discussing their favorite animal. Alphonse's was a cat, and Edward's was a dragon ("There's no such thing as dragons, brother!" "Yes there is! They live in Xing!"). They then asked their mother, who said that her favorite was a horse. Since then, her two son's would make horses for her as presents.

"Oh, for me?" She laughed lightly. "Where did you get this?"

"I _transmuted_ it!" Edward told her, excitement radiating from his facial features. "I put it together with _Alchemy_!"

An ant crawled across one of the tomatoes. Birds occasionally let out a song to signal to their friends where they where. If Edward listened closely enough, he could here the buzzing of honey-bees pollinating the tomato plants so that they would continue to grow more.

"You did?" His mother said, surprised and impressed. "I guess you _do_ take after your father!" She patted her son on the head. "Thank you, Edward. You really are special, being able to create something so wonderful,"

Suddenly, everything went dark, and silent. The only noise Ed could here was his mother talking. "But it's too bad…"

Her face fell apart, as blood gushed down her body, transforming it into something else. Something familiar.

That _thing_ they had turned her into when they tried to bring her back to life.

" _You couldn't put me back together too,"_

The tomatoes fell, and the broken horse landed in the red juice. Something else was coming out of the darkness. A strange creature they failed to save.

He woke up before he would be forced to face it.

Edward watched reality fade in. His body was covered in sweat, and he had lost his breath. He sucked the air in greedily, hoping to find some sort of relief. Rain continued to drizzle outside, making the skin that was fused the the automail scream out in agony.

Edward collapsed in on himself, pressing his burning head against his cold metal knee-cap. "It hurts!" He cried out.

* * *

Edward and Alphonse wondered around the Armstrong summer house, reality fading in and out, occasionally. They eventually reached the kitchen, where one of the chefs where cooking up eggs and bacon.

"Ah, your awake," He said, not too overly peppy, but still in a good enough mood that it made the Elrics angry. Such a tragedy occurred and here he was cooking eggs and bacon while singing to himself, with a smile on his face. "Your friend, Miss Rockbell, checked in here, late last night. She's in the room next to Miss Catherine's,"

Ed and Al walked out of the kitchen, and towards the aforementioned room.

Winry sat up in bed, fully awake. Her hair clip laid on the bedside dresser, leaving her bangs to lay messily over her head. It was something of an odd look, since it wasn't often that they saw Winry with her bangs down. She had dozens of blankets piled on top of her, and was dressed in a warm pair of pajama's. Even still, she was shivering.

"Winry," Ed sighed, a small amount of relief flooding through the two brothers. So at least she was okay.

"Hey, Ed, Al," Winry hummed back, moving her head slightly to look at them.

The three of them didn't say anything. Eventually, the Elric brothers trudged over to the large bed that Winry sat in. Ed slipped into the blankets next to her, and Alphonse sat on the bed on Winry's other side. The three of them simply stayed like this for a little while.

"There's something I need to tell you," Winry eventually said, her voice barely above a whisper. She choked on a sob, as tears started running down her face. She didn't look either of her friends in the eye.

"Nina… she…" Winry tried to shove out, the words getting stuck in her throat. "She's… Nina is…" She curled in to herself. She didn't want to say it. She didn't want to say it!

Ed and Al where patient. They said nothing, just listened. Gave her all the time she needed.

"Nina's dead," Winry finally pushed out.

And the world came crashing down around the trio.

Everything was silent and still. Not even the dust in the air dared to move an inch.

Nina was dead.

She was dead.

They couldn't save her.

And now, they never would be able to.

She was dead. The little girl was dead. Both Nina and Alexander. The big, fluffy, loving dog. The bright little girl who was determined to make them happy. They where gone. She was just…

 _Gone_.

"We shouldn't go outside today," Winry told them. "There's a killer out there. He's targeting State Alchemist. I saw him kill both Nina and Mr. Tucker. I tried to make him promis not to kill you Ed. I _failed_ ," There was so much guilt in her words. Edward hated it. He hated it when Winry and Alphonse felt guilty for something. The burden of guilt was almost too much for his tiny body, and here where his best friend and baby brother, carrying some of their own.

He couldn't let them.

He _would not_ let them!

"It's fine, Winry," Ed told her calmly. "I'll be careful. I'll be ok, alright, Winry?"

Winry didn't say anything. She didn't even nod.

Alphonse let out a sigh. Those two hopeless fools. It seemed as if he was the only one who could possibly take care of them. He couldn't tell them how utterly hopeless this entire endeavor made him feel. He lost Nina. Not only that, but if Nina couldn't be fixed, was it even possible that he could be?

Now was not the time. For once, Alphonse was glad that he couldn't sleep. He was able to spend the night, when everyone else was deep into unconsciousness, to grieve for little Nina by himself. He would have to wait until it was night again to morn her passing.

He wouldn't do it in front of Ed and Winry. They needed someone to be strong for them. And Al will fill that role, no matter how much pain it brought him. It was the least he could do, after all.

* * *

"I'm gonna fire somebody," Hughes declared, sounding angry and frustrated. He and Armstrong currently stood at the gruesome scene that was Nina and Tucker's dead bodies, and knowing that a _child_ was forced to witness the crime scene made the young father's blood boil. Especially with that child being a member of his precious Elric crew.

"Hughes," Armstrong hummed lightly, trying to calm the man down.

"No, the military MP's should've found her _before_ she had to witness this!" Hughes snapped, lifting the sheets, a scowl on his face. "Ew," He cringed as the smell of decay flooded his nose. "But I say the bastard deserved it," He hummed, mostly to himself. "After what he did to his wife and daughter, and all,"

Even the concept a man loving anything more than his family where inconceivable to Hughes. The only thing that should ever come close where friends (friends that he didn't already consider family anyways). What a rotten thing to do. Anyone who would mutilate a child like that deserved to burn in hell.

And Hughes was perfectly aware and content that condemnation did extend to himself.

"It's a good thing our guy got him first, otherwise I would've killed the son-of-a-bitch myself," Hughes finally wrapped up.

"Hughes," Mustang chimed in. He had been standing off to the side, letting forensics do their job, and listening to Hughes angry rants. Mustang had to admit, when Winry showed up to the front of Eastern Command, soaked to the bone, shivering, crying, and blood pouring from her cast, he had been somewhat concerned for her life. Though, Winry, and the Elric crew in general, seemed a bit stronger than to die by something as simple as pneumonia or bleeding out of a reopened wound. However, it was enough to put his best friend in a horrible mood, meaning that Mustang had to deal with it. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," Hughes snapped bitterly, "That if Tucker hadn't been murdered, I would've done the deed myself! And after what he did he sure as hell would deserve—"

"That's not what I meant, Hughes," Mustang interrupted the Lieutenant Colonel, before he could go on another angry rant about how "Tuckers first chimera should've been investigated more thoroughly," or how "there should've been a fact check to figure out what _really_ happened to his wife," or how "The MP's should've looked harder for Winry," or really anything. Hughes had been angry with it all. And it wasn't hard to see why. But Mustang had to assume it was a dad thing, since he was somehow more able to look at the situation with a lack of attachment then Hughes had been able to, despite both of them having seen the same shit out on the battlefield. "What did you mean by 'Our Guy'?" Mustang questioned.

Hughes and Armstrong shared a nod. "There's been a string of killings that are all similar, with similar targets, and the murder is all the same; it looks like their face had been taken apart from the inside out. And with Winry's witness report…" Hughes trailed off.

Armstrong nodded, finishing Hughes' point. "There's no doubt about this in our minds. It's _him_ ,"

* * *

Lior had fallen.

All chaos had descended. It had been like this for weeks now.

After the Elric Brother's broke the news of Cornello's fraud, the people had been shocked into a state of disarray. But then Cornello had come back out and spoken to them, telling them that the war against the Heathens had begun. And that it was up to the people of Lior to win the fight.

Some where enchanted by his words, and lured back into his lies with a false sense of normalcy and denial. But other's faced the truth head on, and refused to be deceived again by the false prophet.

The two sides had turned to each other and wen't out for blood.

Smoke roamed across the city as everything began to fall apart. Soldiers where sent in to calm things down, but it just made things worse. Multiple people where beaten to death in the streets. Soldiers had panicked and used firing squads against the citizens.

The magnificent city that the Elric Crew had entered not so long ago had been reduced to ashes, dust, and rubble.

Lust observed the chaos from a safe distance. Her body felt giddy as she watched the blood spill. How she loved the glorious sounds and visuals of torment! Her body felt hot, the sight giving her a strange kind of pleasure, that could only be described as sexual. Her passionate bloodlust is where she got her name.

"Look at that, Gluttony!" She laughed, feeling giddy. She leaned against the balcony she was watching from, keeping a straight face, using one hand to grip the pole and the other to caress her hips in pleasure. "Humans are such fools,"

"Fools! Fools!" Gluttony repeated, his short stature and chubby body keeping him from being able to quite look over the balcony. There where a lot of corpses piling up. He liked corpses; they where soft and chewy, and didn't struggle against him when he tried to eat them. He saw dead men covered in muscle; a part of the meat he so dearly loved. There where girls and their soft, chewy flesh, and there where people with a lot of fat on them. He loved the fat ones; they where the biggest snack. His hunger screamed, as it always did, and Gluttony began to wonder how long it would be before he was fed again.

"Quiet right," Said a third voice, as the figure this voice belonged to entered the room. "But when things work out like you plan them, that foolish quality can be _so_ nice,"

Standing in front of Lust and Gluttony was Father Cornello, wearing his usual, just to wide smile. But there was something off about it. The smile had somehow extended into an unnatural size, even for the false prophet.

"Well, well, 'your holiness'," Lust chided, smiling.

"Holy-holy!" Gluttony laughed.

"Sorry you had to come out here," Lust hummed, seeming genuine, but slightly disinterested at the same time.

"Yeah, well," Cornello grunted with an eye roll. "When this is over I'm going back to the city that I'm in charge of,"

"Really," Lust hummed, observing the chaos once again, heightening her pleasure. "I was a little bit worried when that Fullmetal Boy messed up our plans, but as a result our work will be finished ahead of schedule, so he was actually a big help,"

Cornello chuckled. "All it took was for you to spread some propaganda among my 'followers' to get them started, and _this_ is the result. Humans really are simple creatures,"

"Bloodshed begets bloodshed," Lust moaned, "Hatred begets hatred. The rage and emotion sinks into the land and stains it with a crest of blood," The simple concept made her body turn on. "No matter how many times they repeat themselves, they never learn. These sad fools," She hummed, with a hint of pity.

"That's why we can do anything to them, right?" Cornello stated with pride. Though something in his voice seemed as if he simply wanted the blood craving woman to confirm it.

Her wide smile and husky giggle said it all.

"Will a lot of people die again?" Gluttony asked his caretaker.

"Yes, I guess they'll die," Lust replied, ecstatic.

"Can I eat all the ones that die?" The stout man begged.

"No, you can't eat them," Lust told him, patting him on the head to make up for her denial to his craving. She then turned to the false prophet, a disgusted look on her face. "By the way, Envy, how long do you plan on using that voice and that body? It's making me sick,"

"Come on, I'm just setting the mood, that's all," Cornello joked, as some of his skin started to disappear in alchemical fragments, and a dark red glow. "But if I'm going to change shape anyway," The mans large hands transformed into slender palms with long fingers, coated by black gloves. The old face crumpled away, as black, corse hair grew out from the bald head. The clothing disappeared, as the big shoes where traded out for smooth feet, as the voice began to change. "Why should I be a crust old geezer…"

The sparks faded away as the transformation completed itself.

"When I can be young and cute?"

The shape-shifter flashed a wicked smile. With a youthful face, looking around twenty, and a body that leaned to neither gender, ey took on a form of a true changeling. Ey had pale skin and black hair, much like eir voluptuous companion, with lilac colored snake-eyes, big ears, and a button-nose. Ey was tall and lean, sporting a black crop-top and a black skort, with fingerless gloves on eir slender hands, and toe-less, heel-less black socks on eir feet. Eir black hair stuck out in bunches, almost reminiscent of palm-tree leaves, and where (rather unsuccessfully) kept our of eir face by a black headband. Much like eir partners, ey sported a crimson Ouroboros tattoo, which sat on eir left leg, right below eir skort.

Lust giggled in amusement at her partner's decision to be 'young and cute'. Didn't exactly show eir true personality. "Even though on the _inside_ you're the most ruthless of all of us!" She quipped.

"Are you trying to pick a fight, Lust?" Envy growled, unamused. Normally, ey took pride in eir ruthlessness, but Lust was saying it like an insult!

"Y-YOUR A MONSTER!" Shouted a distressed voice. Envy and Lust turned to the newcomer, concluding that this human (Clay was their name? Or maybe it was Ray?) had seen the entirety of Envy's transformation.

"What's going on here?!" He screamed, distressed. "His holiness, what happened to the _real_ Father Cornello? What in God's name _are_ you!?"

Lust and Envy looked at each other, sharing annoyed expressions on their face. Lust sighed. "What should we do?" She asked.

"He called me a monster!" Envy declared, sounding comedically offended. "I am _so_ insulted!"

"Can I eat him?" Gluttony asked.

Lust and Envy turned to the hungry guy, debating the solution in their head for a few moments before simply shrugging their shoulders. Apparently it was enough for Gluttony, since he was tearing into the poor man's flesh seconds later.

"By the way," Envy informed eir partner. "I heard that someone killed Shou Tucker from East City,"

"Tucker?" Lust questioned, trying to remember who ey was talking about. "Oh, yes, the _Sewing -Life Alchemist_ ," She scoffed, remembering the rather unimpressive man who claimed to have created the first talking Chimera. His attempt was rather pathetic, but his reputation still held it's use. "Who cares?" Lust groaned. "He was just a minor alchemist, anyways,"

"I don't care about Tucker!" Envy stated, almost a little too fast, as if terrified that eir partner might think ey had actual concern for the useless man. "But the killer, it's that guy from before again,"

Lust frowned. There was a killer targeting State Alchemist. She wasn't terribly concerned about him, but then he took down Terra Rigel, the _Earthquake Alchemist_. She was a strong, and skilled member of the State Alchemist program, and they had been eyeing her as potential, but then she was murdered. And the killer didn't simply stop at Terra Rigel either. He had also killed Clause Valentine, the _Sky Alchemist_ , and Basque Grand, the _Iron Blood Alchemist_ , two other State Alchemist they had been eying. It was quiet frustrating that those three had been killed, especially when they could've been so _useful_.

"East city is where the Flame Colonel is, right?" Lust questioned.

"Uh-huh," Envy confirmed. "Apparently the Fullmetal Runt is there too,"

"The _Fullmetal Alchemist_ ," Lust hummed. "It makes me mad that he got in the way of our work, but we can't just let allow him to die. After all, he and his little friend; _They're our human sacrifices_ ,"

"Lust, that was tasty!" Gluttony shouted excitedly.

"Wipe your mouth after you eat," Lust criticized, annoyed that the blood on his mouth was arousing her. It was gross that she felt that way when the blood was coating a guy who was technically her brother.

"About this man," Envy continued, ignoring the interruption. "I don't know who he is or where he's from, but we can't allow him to interfere with the plan,"

"Alright," Lust sighed, disappointed to have to leave the carnage early. "We've pretty much finished with this town, so I guess we'll go take a look. This killer of ours, what was his name?

* * *

"Scar?" Mustang questioned, upon hearing the name of Shou Tucker's murderer.

"We don't know his name, so that's what we call him," Hughes explained.

The small group of soldiers currently stood in the halls of Eastern Command. They had collected the bodies of Tucker and Nina, which they planned to cremate. Mustang couldn't blame his old friend for wanting to leave the Tucker estate before giving his explanation. The smell of rotting flesh and agony clogged the air back at that place.

"Not only is his background a mystery, but we don't even know what kind of weapon he uses or what his intentions are. It seems like he's everywhere," Armstrong informed the Colonel. "The only information we've received about him is what Miss Winry had told us about him, with his most memorable feature being the large X-shaped scar on his forehead," The major pointed to the spot between his eyes, at the bridge of his nose, just where Winry had told them the scar was located. They tried not to think about how a little girl had been face to face with a killer as dangerous as this "Scar".

"This year alone, he's killed five alchemist in central. In the country, he's killed a total of ten," Hughes told Mustang.

"Yes, we've heard the rumors out here in the east as well," Mustang hummed, remembering how shocked his men where when they had received the news that Terra Rigel had been murdered. Her alchemy was infamous throughout the military, with reports on how she desecrated the battlefield in the conflict against Creta. She left no enemies alive. It was shocking to hear that she could've been killed by someone.

But then Hughes said. "Just between you and me, I heard that he even killed old man Grand,"

This was a shock. Rigel may have been powerful, but she often got carried away with that power. This left her sloppy in the heat of battle. For an army, her weakness didn't really hinder her, since she didn't need to care about how or where the destruction was made, just that destruction was done. But against a one-on-one enemy; if said enemy was skilled enough, he would know _exactly_ how to take advantage of such weakness.

But Basque Grand held years of experience. He wasn't sloppy, like Rigel, and never got so carried away by his Alchemy that he forgot where his enemy was. He kept a keen eye on whomever he had to face, and made sure that whatever alchemical feats he performed where precise and perfect, something he picked up from the battlefield. To think that he could be _murdered_.

The killer must've had to have been extremely dangerous to do something like that.

"Brigadier General Grand, the _Iron-Blood Alchemist!?_ " Mustang gasped. Hughes couldn't have been talking about the same Grand. "He's a military martial arts expert!"

"It might sound crazy, but believe it or not, a guy this touch is roaming the city," Hughes snapped, looking stressed, saddened, and scared. The young father owed a lot to the Brigadier General. If it wasn't for him, Hughes might not have left the battlefield alive.

They weren't exactly friends, but Mustang knew how hard it must've been for Hughes to here that a man who was practically his hero had been killed.

No wonder he had been so incredibly angry that Winry had made contact with a killer like that.

"Let me give you some advice," Hughes continued, his voice level, and serious. Such a contrast to his usual upbeat and happy mood. "Double the security staff and lay low for awhile. I'm asking you this as a _friend_ ,"

Hughes' voice left no room for either arguments or protest. Mustang _would_ look after himself, and keep himself safe. Hughes would make sure of it.

"The Elric Crew is currently staying in the Armstrong's summer home," Hughes sighed, starting to walk off. "I'm gonna escort them here. It's probably the safest bet for them,"

"Alright," Mustang hummed, trying to process the information he had received. Brigadier General Grand; dead. He never had a chance to properly thank the man for protecting his best friend.

"And Roy," Hughes turned around, his forest-green spheres meeting Mustangs pitch-black ones. "Please, be gentle with them. We've seen a fare share of hell. We know what its like,"

"I'm just pushing them along," Mustang tried to defend himself, knowing his friend had a point. He was harsh on those Elric kids, but it was because he had to be. "This world isn't going to coddle them,"

Hughes glared at him. "They know that," He said firmly. Mustang felt the sound pause at this statement. He knew that the relationship between Hughes and those kids was a friendly one. One could say he even acted like they where his children. He must've known them so much more personally than Mustang did. Maybe he should've tried to get to know them better. As much as he hated to admit it, they had wormed their way into his heart anyways. Why did he bother trying to stop them in the first place?

"They know that the world is cruel, and it sucks," Hughes continued. "It sucks because they've got nothing to put their faith in. They don't believe anything cares about them. I'm gonna prove them wrong, and if you know what's good for those kids, you'll do the same,"

Mustang let out a long sigh. "It's quiet charming how little you care for social boundaries, Maes," The man joked.

His friend gave him a small smile and a soft release of air in return. "The poor souls in hell are gonna enjoy me,"

Mustang laughed, a bittersweet feeling welling up inside him. "That they will,"

* * *

Catherine had been fading in and out of consciousness ever since she had fainted at the Tucker's residence. She had broken out with a fever, and had spent the day laying in bed, a cold rag placed on her forehead. She hadn't seen either Winry or the Elric brothers yet, and was growing concerned for them. Every time she asked one of her servants what was happening, they would just give her the run-around, stating that they "were fine". Catherine knew better. There was no way they where fine. Not after everything that had just happened.

Sunlight poured through the window, highlighting the edges of a figure peering over the young woman's bed. Catherine's eyes slowly adjusted to the light, recognizing the figure as Winry.

"Miss Winry!" Catherine nearly cried out in joy and relief. "You're alright!"

Winry was wearing a pair of warm pajama's that Catherine recognized as a pair of her's that had grown to small. She was wrapped up in a blanket, and her face seemed to have disturbing shades of blue mixed in with her already pale completion. Her hair seemed more thin, and there where bags under her eyes. The sky-blue orbs seemed to have dulled. If Catherine didn't know any better, she'd say that those eyes almost looked grey.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Winry hummed quietly. Catherine sat up a slight bit, the washcloth falling off her forehead, as she reached over, wrapping the blanket tighter around Winry.

"Your so cold," Catherine fretted, feeling Winry's ice-like skin. "Why are you cold?"

"Rain," Winry said simply.

Catherine pulled Winry out of the chair she was sitting in and onto her bed, in order to examine the cast her foot had been in.

"Looks new," Catherine observed.

"It had to be changed out," Winry explained. "I reopened the wound,"

The two women sat in silence for a while.

"Winry," Catherine finally said, her voice weak and quiet. "I had a horrible dream. Mr. Tucker had done something awful to Nina. Please, tell me it was a dream,"

Winry said nothing.

"I knew it," Catherine whispered. She fell back into her pillows, the sudden movement making her feel dizzy. Her hair swirled around her head. Catherine ran her fingers through the platinum blonde silk-strings, remembering how much Nina had loved her hair.

" _It's so soft, Catherine!"_ Nina had declared. " _I love it! It's so soft!"_

Her family had always insisted that she try to look beautiful. They said that she was a woman, and woman needed to look their best. She had never considered her physical appearance anything more than a duty. People ogled at it. Admired it. Never loved it. Never enjoyed it. But she brought happiness to a little girl by letting her play with the hair she had always worked so hard to keep perfect. And suddenly, her physical appearance wasn't just a duty; it was something she could take pride in.

Catherine suddenly started to bawl. She let out a loud cry, as tears coated her face. The hurt was deep. It dug into her skin like a knife.

"Catherine," Winry whispered, tears flowing down her own cheeks. This was the hardest part. Winry hated this. She had seen what had become of poor Nina. She was the one who knew. So she was the one who had to tell the others what happened. "Catherine, there's something — I'm so sorry!" Winry cried, the words unable to come out.

Catherine bit her lip, wiping the tears off her face. Winry needed her. She was needed by Winry. So she sat up, and and wiped the tears out of her eyes again. She wrapped her arms around the little girl who she had spent so much time with.

She was hired by the Elrics to be a personal assistant for Winry. Providing comfort wasn't part of the job description, but she gladly did so anyways.

"Shhh" Catherine commanded softly, tracing Winry's spine with her fingers in a comforting motion. "Shhh, it's not your fault. You did nothing wrong. We gave Nina our love and our care. At least she still has that,"

Winry shook her head. "No," She sobbed. "No, she's gone! She's gone and she doesn't have anything!"

"What do you… " Catherine started, but stopped, simply trailing off. There was only one thing that Winry could've meant. "Oh. So, Nina's dead now. I see. Winry, do you believe in God?"

"I met God," Winry told Catherine. The young woman had never been sure what Winry had meant by that, but she had always assumed that it was something bad. "And God isn't kind. And I don't know if there could possibly be a heaven inside that _place_ it was in,"

"Well," Catherine told her, trying to keep her voice even. She succeeded, though she was sure that Winry could feel her tears falling onto her back. "I believe that something happens after death. I'm not entirely sure what, but I'm sure of one thing. The good people in this world find happiness after they die. I'm sure Nina found such a thing. She had to,

"She had to!"

* * *

Hughes drove the members of the Elric Crew towards Eastern command. Despite everyone telling her otherwise, Catherine decided to brave her fever and accompany the Elric crew.

The only one that was dressed in outside clothes was Edward, who had fallen asleep in his boxers and therefore had been the only one with a reason to put clothing on. Winry and Catherine where both still in their pajama's, and had wrapped themselves in blankets. Winry's bangs still hung loose in her face, but the lady-bug clip Nina had given her sat in the breast pocket of her clothes.

Neither Hughes, or the other soldier who had helped with the escort, said a thing, besides the usual hello. He had given them hugs, however. Light, but comforting. He didn't want to overstep boundaries, but the children didn't mind. They where in need of a hug of any sorts, anyways.

The kids were walked through the pouring rain with giant umbrella's to shield them. Edward stopped in the middle of the walk. By the time Hughes noticed Ed was no longer walking with them, the boy was standing in the middle of the rain, his face tilted up to the heavens, as the water dripped down his face, almost like the tears he was so practiced at never shedding.

"Come on, brother," Al encouraged him gently. "We need to get inside,"

* * *

"The man Winry had come in contact with is a dangerous serial killer targeting State Alchemist. We call him 'Scar'" Mustang explained.

The men on Mustangs team, along with Hughes, Armstrong, and the Elric Crew, sat inside his office on the couches, as the three higher-ranking officers gave them a briefing on who they where up against. The other soldiers snuck side-glances at the Elric crew every so often, a pang rupturing through their heart over how completely downtrodden and miserable those poor kids looked.

"And we know from her encounter with him that Scar isn't exactly above harming children," Mustang continued, eyeing Edward. The young state Alchemist kept his head down, and the brilliant gold that his eyes usually where had greatly diminished. The fire in his eyes were dying. Mustang frowned, remembering Hughes' words. Ed was fifteen. Things shouldn't be like this. "Fullmetal," He called to the boy.

Ed didn't even look up. "What?"

"Take care of yourself, alright?" Mustang commanded. "And don't leave the Eastern Command today, got it?"

"Yeah, whatever," Ed grunted, lacking energy.

"I suggest you four go get a bite to eat," Mustang told them. "There's food in the cafeteria,"

* * *

The Elric Crew wondered around Eastern Command, not quiet sure what to do or where to go. They felt like they where walking through pitch-black water instead of air. It was excruciating.

"Hey," A voice rain into their ears.

The kids looked up to see Maes Hughes standing before them with sympathetic eyes, as he gave them a small smile of comfort.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Ed greeted, sounding exhausted.

"I don't know wether you'll like this or not," Hughes said. "But we're going to cremate Nina's body. Do you guys wanna say anything to her, or maybe just be there, or something?"

The Elric crew agreed.

The military crematory was a terrifying room, that the Elric Crew had never gone into, and felt as if their lives would've been a lot better if they had never been in there. Formaldehyde was the strongest smell. The next strongest was that of dead bodies, and third was the smell of ashes. Nina's body laid on a tray, covered with a blanket so that they couldn't see her, but the shape was unmistakable.

"Nina," Ed whimpered.

The young boy staggered over to her, arms out, emotions of despair, guilt, hate, and trauma twisting up his face, creating an expression that looked like agony. When he finally got to the tray she was laying on, his little body gave out on itself, and Edward fell to his knees.

"This… This wasn't supposed to happen!" He wailed.

Al sat down next to his brother, putting a hand on his small but muscular shoulder. Winry reached her hand down as Catherine pulled her wheelchair up close to her friends. Alphonse reached over and squeezed her hand. Neither of the two could feel the squeeze, but it was there, nonetheless.

"Should we… say something?" Catherine asked, feeling water fall from her eyes and down her chin.

Al took a deep breath, and stood up, looking at the black cloth that covered Nina's grizzly body from sight. He had to give her a proper goodbye. She deserved that much.

"Nina," He whispered. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that we couldn't do anything to help you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," His voice cracked and his armor rattled, as his body trembled. Nothing hurt. There was no pain coming from the cold body of his. It didn't sing in agony like Winry and Edward's pain usually did. It was a silent thing, a song that made no sound, and it hurt just the same.

Ed finally stood up. "We'll never forget you," He promised in a whisper.

"We'll always keep you in our hearts," Winry vowed.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you, Nina," Catherine said. "Your still our friend, no matter what,"

With all their final goodbyes said, Hughes prepared the cremation chamber. "I'm sorry this had to happen," Hughes whispered. "You seemed like a nice girl, and you made my kids happy. I hope you can rest in peace, little one,"

He slid the tray into the chamber and shut the door. A bright light illuminated the chamber window, as orange flames danced around her body.

A giant pain flared up in Edwards body. His organs where gone again. They where in the cremation chamber with Nina. Burning, burning, burning.

Everything was burning. The fire crept out of the chamber and surrounded the room, as creatures of flame danced to a surreal tune. It seemed to be a harpsichord. That was right. Someone was playing a harpsichord and the flames where dancing to it. Ed's entire body began to shake. He couldn't breath. The smoke was chocking him. There was nothing in the room. Where had Alphonse and Winry gone to!? Had the flames taken them?

It was hot. Too hot. The fire was getting closer, and the harpsichord was playing louder and louder and louder. The flames deconstructed Nina's body, turning it to black. So much black clogged the room. It was the brightest black Edward had ever seen. Could black be bright? It couldn't, could it?

That harpsichord was too loud. Not a single sound entered his ear except for that _goddamn_ harpsichord. He wanted it to stop. He _needed_ it to stop.

He saw the dreaded instrument floating closer to him. There was a man playing the thing. A very familiar man. It was morphed; it appeared to be a demon from the darkest of hells, but the face was unmistakable.

Shou Tucker. The Bad Man who had done something unforgivable. Who had betrayed them. Who had taken away their friend.

Edward felt a surge of panic flow through him as Shou Tucker reached out to grab him.

 _Clap!_

 _Ring!_

 _"Ahhhhhhhh!"_

Reality hit Edward with full force. There was blood. He had transmuted his arm into a blade, his usual weapon of self-defense. He had stabbed it straight through Hughes' arm.

Ed pulled the blade out on instinct, horrified when that made the young Father cry out in pain louder. Hughes gritted his teeth together, trying to stop himself from screaming, but by god, that _hurt._

"Mr. Hughes!" Winry cried in concern.

"Ed! Why did you do that!?" Al screamed.

Ed felt the guilt burn through him as if he had just swallowed acid. There was something in the room that was ripping at him. His automail arm seemed shrouded in a dark cloud. This thing that he had used to hurt a good friend of his.

"Hey, Ed," Hughes said, as calmly as he could, gritting his teeth to keep the screams of pain he felt inside his mouth. "Ed, it's fine. It's just me,"

Ed bolted from the room.

The little boy wasn't sure where he was going. He couldn't see what was in front of him. His legs simply acted without his brains commands, while the scene played out in his head again and again and again. Hughes' blood was still on his automail.

That had been Tucker. He was reaching out, reaching for Ed, intent on hurting him, like he did his own daughter. Ed couldn't think properly. Why did he remember Tucker reaching for him? Tucker was dead. It had been Hughes who was reaching for him. Hughes wasn't like Tucker. He was a Good Man, not a Bad Man. He let them stay in his house, treated his wife and daughter like a queen and princess respectively. He took care of his family. He took care of them. Even more so, he wasn't an alchemist! He was not like Tucker at all! Why had Ed lashed out?

Big hands. Hughes had big hands. Bigger than Edward's own. Adult hands. The hands of a man who had finally grown into their skin and become a part of the world. A cog in the machine of life. Tucker was also this; an adult. Adult's where supposed to look after Children. That was their job. Tucker failed at his job. So many _goddamn_ people failed at this job. Edward was fifteen. Winry was fifteen. Alphonse was fourteen. They where kids, dammit! Just some kids who where walking blindly through hell because nobody wanted to guid them. Adults had failed them. Absolutely failed.

Something cold was pounding heavily on Ed's body. He must've finally ran outside. The cold hit again, and again, and again. It soaked into his hair and his clothes, as it froze him from the inside out. The rain stole his body heat. Edward kept running.

He finally reached some sort of destination; a back-ally way. Ed fell harshly onto his hands and knees, as he gasped for air, trying to take it from the sky. But it refused to touch him. Not even the air wanted to be near someone like him.

He hurt Hughes. He stabbed his arm with his automail blade, and his alchemy. The blood was still there. It was wet, and red, and smelled metallic. He hurt someone who'd been good to them. Nothing but good. Why was he shocked, though? Winry and Alphonse had been nothing but good to him, and he hurt them too. He took something away from them, and forced them to walk through the most terrible of hells because of his arrogance. And now he had done it again. Used his alchemy to hurt someone.

Ed felt his left fingers curl around a stone. It would do.

 _CLANG!_

Edward hit the stone against his automail arm. Again, and again, and again, and again. He let out screams of agony as he continued to beat the thing up. The first of the plating to come off where his fingers. The wires where soon exposed to rain. He beat the the arm more and more. A wire was cut. A joint came loose. More and more plaiting came off, until the entire hand was torn up.

Ed practically ripped off his coat, and went for the arm next.

He smashed the blade off. The piece of metal fell to the ground with a clang. More pieces fell. Some metal, some wires, some nuts, bolts, and screws. Off came everything.

He beat the elbow off next. And when that was done he continued up his arm eventually beating at his shoulder plating. His nerves screamed in agony as the wires attached to them felt themselves shaking as he pried the at the port, trying to get it off. Get everything of.

It took work, but eventually he had beaten all the plating off of his automail. With nothing encasing it, it looked like a skeleton arm surrounded by wires. He pulled those off too, this time using his hands instead of the rock. He broke it apart. Everything. The entirety of his automail.

"Why am I like this!?" He cried, pulling the wires apart. "Why am I such a fucked-up idiot that I do something like this!? I can't even save a little girl! I can't even protect my friends! I'm pathetic!"

All that was left was the skeleton. Edward stood up, grabbing his coat. He left the pieces to rust in the rain, as he moved along, unsure of where he wanted to go.

"I'm so sorry, Alphonse! I'm so sorry Winry!" Ed cried to himself. "I couldn't save Nina! I can't save anyone! How am I going to save you!?"

Ed let out a scream, as he started to bawl. He continued his tearless cry for a while, curling into himself as his body racked with sobs. "I'm worthless!" Ed shouted. "I'm worthless! I can't do anything!"

The rain continued to pour.

* * *

 **Hey! I actually made a chapter that wasn't a million pages long! Yippie.**

 **So, more emotions, more crying, and more mental breakdowns. I wonder what the TVTropes page you guys made for me will look like after this.**

 **So, new milestone, we actually get a good look at the homunculi! As you see, I've interpreted Lust's well, lust, as bloodlust. She gets sexual pleasure from looking at blood. When I write from her pov, my descriptions of her emotions might be a slight bit uncomfortable for some of us, me included. Writing about a characters sexual anything is not exactly what I'd like to spend my time doing. But, all characters have emotions, and I want to describe them. So expect more of Lust weird sexual attraction to blood to come up more later, at least whenever she takes the spotlight.**

 **And then there's Envy. I'll be using gender neutral pronouns that I found on the internet for the palm-tree. Because Envy has no gender. Well, technically, eir gender is a shape-shifting lizard, but there are no personal pronouns for that!**

 **And I think that's all I've got to say for this chapter. Hope you liked it. Sorry it took so long, and that it was a bit short. Leave a review, and all that good stuff.**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey hey hey! It's been a while, but I finally am publishing the next chapter!**

 **Thank you to the reviews I've gotten. And a special shout out to** Rockium **for drawing a cover for this story, which is the one I currently have up. It's awesome art, and to think that someone took their time to make something based off of something I wrote makes me really really happy! Thank you so much!**

 **Anywho, sorry for taking such a long time. School is rough, inspiration sometimes comes in slowly, and trying to focus on this and all the other projects I have no business taking on considering everything, all lead up to me being a particularly slow updater, or at least slower than I would like. But thank's to all who've taken the time to read this story, and I hope everyone have enjoyed! I love you all, my children.**

 **And another shout out to Rockium, my soon-to-be Beta reader. I'll be looking forwards to working with you!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, which makes me somewhat sad, but it's better to leave the genius work that is FMA to the genius queen that is Arakawa-sensai.**

 **And without further ado, on with the show!**

* * *

Chapter 7: After the Rain

* * *

Rain was sad. It was a cold drops of water falling from clouds, with no control over where they fell and who they fell on. Rain could water the plants and refuel the oceans, or they can be unfortunate enough to simply land on the stone streets, where they'll be doomed to either be lost in a drain full of the waste-water, which only the rats cared about, or they'd evaporate off the streets when the sun came out, their pointless life being cut tragically short.

Or, they could land on a living thing. They could soak into the clothes of a human, drench their hair, make them freeze. This was also a pointless existence as well. The human had no use for the rain coating them. They would dry themselves off later, letting the drops of water die. The life of a rain-drop was cold, and sad.

Edward was covered in raindrops. His automail, which his beloved Granny worked so hard to make, was torn apart. Barely any of it was left. He felt the water hit his skin as if he were not wearing any clothes in the first place. It drizzled down his face, and dripped off his hair. Drip, drip, drip. These drops would die, the only achievement they've made would be soaking a young boy and making him cold, instead of giving life to the plants and the oceans. Edward parted his lips into a small smile. Would this be his life? Would he die, the only accomplishment he had ever achieved would be hurting others?

He found a park bench to sit on. It was just as wet as everything else, but Ed was already soaked, so he didn't see the point in complaining. His legs moaned in relief as he took his weight off of them. The weight of the world had hung on his head, and it was just too much!

 _Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. He told himself. Alphonse can't cry. I took that from him. I don't deserve to cry!_

 _"Where is it?" Nina cried. "Did it get lost?"_

 _"You can't even hold someone's hands!?"_

 _"Big brother_ ,"

That damned harpsichord was playing again. But Edward ignored it this time. The sound of poor little Nina's voice reminding him of his mistakes was louder. He lost Al's body. He took away Winry's hands. He let Nina die. And now, he hurt a man who had looked out for them.

"Do you mind if I sit here," Said a deep voice, pulling Edward away from his thoughts. The little boy looked up to see who was talking to him.

A large man in a bright yellow jacket, with brown skin, white hair, and sunglasses. And a large scar shaped as an X in the middle of his forehead.

Ed's eyes widened in fear, as he felt his entire body freeze. That was him; Scar. The state alchemist killer. The one who killed Nina and Tucker. The one who would try to kill him.

Ed tightened his coat around himself, a motion that simply looked like a young boy trying to keep warm, but he was really covering his pocket, where the chain for his State Alchemist watch was poking out.

"I'll take that as a yes," The scarred man said, sounding annoyed.

Ed felt himself shaking. There was a killer sitting next to him. He needed to run! He needed to run! But his legs wouldn't move! Ed took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He couldn't act out. Average citizens didn't exactly know what Scar looked like, and Ed couldn't let this man know that he did. He would act like a normal child; maybe some delinquent high-school boy who was playing hooky, and got caught up in the weather. He would act like that until either the man left, or his legs finally started to move again.

"Yeah, sure, you can sit here," Ed mumbled, keeping his voice even. The man simply grunted in response.

Silence hung in the air. I gotta leave! I gotta leave! I gotta leave! Ed kept shouting to himself.

His legs still didn't go anywhere. He felt like he had been frozen to the park bench.

"Boy, mind if I ask what your doing out here?" Scar questioned.

"Nothing," Ed answered, trying to sound calm.

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

Ed laughed bitterly at that. "Yeah, I really should be, shouldn't I?"

"So your playing hooky," Scar assumed.

Good! Think that! Think of me as some random kid, not someone you wanna brutally murder! "So what if I am?"

"If you're going to play hooky," The large man grumbled, "I'd recommend not spending your time in the rain,"

"Then what are you doing out here?" Ed challenged instinctually, immediately regretting it, since he had wanted to stop talking to this man, out of both fear, and anger. He cursed his impulsive nature to start arguments.

"Waiting," The man answered simply. Ed prayed the conversation would end there. Of corse it didn't. "Boy, what's your name,"

A surge of fear charged through Ed's body. Every move he made screamed as if something was wrong. The amount of time he hesitated, to the look on his face. Anything could be noticed.

Well, he was supposed to be a delinquent anyways.

"What's your name," Ed challenged, hoping that would be enough for the scarred man.

"Touché," Scar replied. Ed let out a sigh of relief, slowly, and through his nose, to keep it quiet.

Silence settled again. Edward felt as if his heart would explode through his chest. This was fear. The same kind of feeling that swelled up in his stomach and threatened to spew out in a mess of bile and blood whenever a bullet sped past his face, or when he saw the corpses of other people, killed in different kinds of horrible ways. Running wasn't possible at this point; his legs had already frozen into ice and crumpled away. All he could do was wait until Scar left. But who knew how long that would be.

As much as Ed tried his best to hide his discomfort and fear, Scar still took notice. There was something strange about this boy to him. One arm was skinnier than the other. The coat was oversized, so it was hard to tell, but the rain left the fabric hanging against his very skin. One arm looked normal, the other; the one he didn't seem to be using; almost looked like the sticks and strings that the children back at his home would put together, so that they could play pretend, bragging about their "automail arm", oblivious to the actual hardships of being an amputee with such mechanical limbs.

He had never seen a single person with gold eyes before. There was pain inside them. Scar had known pain. There was also some sort of strength inside this boy's eyes.

He was an older brother, Scar was sure of it. The look was unmistakable.

"Is your sibling also playing hooky?" Scar asked him. It took a second before he got an answer. The boy had seemed to get lost in space, and it took a while before he realized Scar had started to talk again.

"Sibling?" Ed squeaked, nervous. He hoped that his squeak didn't give him away.

"You're an older brother, I can tell," Scar said. Ed shuttered slightly. If he could tell something like that…

"No, he's in school," Ed quickly lied, mostly to give the man an answer. Damn it! Work, you stupid legs!

"You should go to him, then," Scar told him, slowly taking off his sunglasses and rubbing his eyes. It occurred to Ed that this killer was actually trying to convince him to go back to the school he was supposedly skipping. Ed wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh at the irony or punch the man in his stupid face.

"I probably should," Ed muttered. He tried to sound smug, and defiant, like any other delinquent teen.

Scar slipped his glasses back on, before replying with; "Then why are you still here?"

"Why do you care?" Ed quickly snapped back.

"At least go inside," Scar insisted. "Seeing you shiver is making me suffer,"

Ed rolled his eyes. He would've loved to leave, but his legs decided they didn't want to function. Scar was right, though; he was freezing, and the rain made his stumps ache. He didn't like being out here. He wanted to go.

Ed finally decided to just tell the guy to leave.

"Ok, I'll be blunt," Ed snapped, not looking at Scar. "You creep me out. My legs are to scared to move right now, so if you want me to get out of the rain that badly, then could you leave me alone?"

"And why do I creep you out," The large man asked, suspicious.

"Cause your fucking ten feet tall, and look like you could benchpress a fucking bear!" Ed spat out. It was an exaggeration, but it was enough a reason for the scarred man.

He nodded. "Fair enough," The man stood up, stretched a slight bit, and slipped his hands into his pockets, before continuing on his merry way. "I'll leave you be,"

The moment Scar left, Ed felt his legs suddenly snap back to life. He ran away from the park bench as fast as he could, not sure where he was trying to go, but wanting to be anywhere but that spot in the park, where he just so happened to run into a man who wanted to kill him.

Ed thanked his luck that Scar never thought he was anything more than some kid skipping school.

Ed stopped at a building, and laughed to himself, slightly. "Isn't it absolutely wonderful when death itself decides to sit it's ass down next to you?" Ed muttered, his voice full of acid and sarcasm.

His thoughts then went to where he would go next. Eastern Command was the most logical option, but…

He wasn't ready to face his friends after he had hurt them like that.

No, he wasn't ready to go into Eastern Command and sort through his issues yet. So for now, he would just keep walking.

* * *

Scar wondered through the streets, hoping the kid he just met had heeded his advice and gone back to class. It was likely that the kid hadn't, but there was always hope.

Scar had to be careful. As far as he knew, his appearance hadn't been leaked to the public yet, but it was bound to happen soon. And all because that little yellow-haired girl just so happened to walk into that room at the wrong time. Under normal circumstances, he would've simply killed the witness. She looked so sad and helpless, as she puked up her guts onto the blood-stained floors, that he easily could've justified her murder with pity. But he let her live for some reason. What reason that was, he wasn't sure. Maybe because she looked familiar, like someone he'd seen before, or maybe because she held so much hate and animosity because of the events that occurred in that house, all within her thin body, that Scar had no choice but to relate to her. Both he, and the yellow-haired girl he decided not to kill, shared the same hatred for all the pain and suffering in this world. A sister in his suffering would not die by his hands.

There was an old newspaper outside of a shop, covered in a plastic bag to keep dry. It hadn't been collected by anyone; simply left to sit and soak in the rain. So, Scar decided to take it.

On the front page was some article about tax benefits. The more Scar read the news, the more he began to grow angry at that front page article. Lior, a town up north of East City, was going through total chaos, and it was given barely even a footnote of coverage. And the front page thought that Tax Benefits where more important than an entire city's suffering. And it wasn't like it was some little spot on the map. Lior was big, and held a large population. This event deserved more than a footnote.

A separate article peeked Scar's interest, however. It was about the arrest of the Blue Squad after their train invasion that had happened a week ago. Most interesting was the picture it came with. It showed a few high-ranking military officers meandering about the station, but the figure that stood out the most was a large suit of armor, who was holding a familiar girl in his arms. A closer look at the photo showed that she had received some sort of foot injury. It didn't take long for Scar to figure out that she was the little yellow-haired girl he had come across in Tucker's attack. There was something strange about the armored guy holding her. It seemed their eye sockets sorta glowed.

There where two other individuals not wearing a military uniform. A young woman, who was standing next to the armored guy, dressed in what seemed to be expensive clothes, and a young boy in a jacket that looked a bit to big for him.

Scar narrowed his eyes, holding the picture closer to his face. The boy in the photo looked exactly like the kid he just met. Everything, from the long braided hair, to the exotic complexion, to the cowlick that stuck out of the center of the little boys bangs. Hell, even the hight was the same.

Scar read the caption under the picture, which named each individual from left to right. His face paled when he read the name "Winry Rockbell,". So, that is why that girl looked so familiar…

Soon, he matched the small kid up with the name Edward Elric. The Fullmetal Alchemist.

So, that was why the boy seemed so nervous about Scar being near him.

The large man let out an annoyed sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You've got to be joking,"

* * *

"Ed started having a panic attack, and I tripped on some tools while trying to reach for him," Hughes, for the hundredth time in the past hour, explained to HQ doctor as she wrapped his bleeding arm in bandages. He was cursing himself for freaking out after getting stabbed. Hughes berated himself for screaming, knowing that it didn't make anything better for the poor boy. He should've kept it in, and simply talked to the boy gently, but the nerve receptors in his brain flew out of control and he started screaming.

He had wanted to go out and look for Ed right away. Alphonse, Winry, and Catherine held the same idea, but they where caught trying to sneak out by Armstrong and Mustang, who took one look at Hughes' bleeding arm and decided that he was not fit to go out in the rain. They assigned the MP's to look for Edward, but Hughes wasn't happy with that arrangement, since they proved themselves unreliable when they failed to find Winry.

Armstrong practically held his younger sister hostage to keep her from doing anything, reminding her that she had a fever, despite the fact that she was in no mood to listen. Winry couldn't go outside with her cast on, and was locked in Mustangs office with Alphonse to keep the two of them from sneaking out. However, they didn't consider the fact that Alphonse would jump out the window to go find Ed. So, now both brother's where missing, and Winry was absolutely pissed off that Al didn't take her with him.

Hughes had decided that it would be a good idea not to tell the others that Ed had stabbed him. Instead, he had thrown a few tools in the crematory onto the floor, where much of his blood had dripped into a small puddle, swash them around the blood-puddle with his foot to make them look responsible for his stab wound, and then ran out to try to find Ed. He had given even Mustang, his closest friend, the false story; That Ed had a panic attack in the crematory, likely because the smell of flesh triggered some sort of PTSD attack within him, and Hughes had spaced out prior to Ed's panic. The scream shocked him back into reality, and he panicked a slight bit, and started running over to Edward to help the poor kid settle down. In his rush, he spilled some tools onto the ground, tripped, and got stabbed by one of them. The accident just made everything worse for the poor boy, and Ed had ran away in terror.

The only person who seemed to question the story was the doctor.

"And somehow landing on tools made a perfect slit in your arm," She said, obviously not believing the story one bit.

"Listen, Dr…" Hughes leaned slightly to the left, in order to look at her name tag, much to the annoyance of the middle-aged woman. "Yvette, I told you exactly what happened. You thoroughly checked me out. I don't have led poisoning, or any kind of metal poisoning, and I'll be fine and dandy as soon as we get the wound covered. I don't think being suspicious of the patient is in your job description," Hughes nearly snapped. He was loosing his patience, a rare occurrence for the young father, but it had been a long week. A last minute trip to the east, mountains of paperwork, learning that his hero had been murdered, and then suddenly his Elric Crew are shoved down a rabbit hole from hell. Needless to say, he was stressed, angry, and felt like he was about to explode. Dr. Yvette's endless questioning wasn't helping the matter.

The doctor glared at him. "Do you want to survive your injuries?" She asked, bluntly, annoyance laced throughout.

"Well, yeah, I'd prefer not dying, thank you very much," Hughes quipped.

"Then don't tell me how to do my job," Dr. Yvette threatened, tightening the bandages on his arm a little bit. Hughes rolled his eyes. It seemed that no matter what command center he went to, all the head doctors working there would be the same; absolutely grumpy, and done with everyone's shit to the point where they would even snap at people not giving them any shit.

Hughes resolved to simply growl under his breath. It would be useless to argue with the stubborn woman. Instead, he let his mind drift. His thoughts where on Edward, and the other members of the Elric crew. Panic attacks, flashbacks, hallucinations; The poor kids where ridden with PTSD. Hughes didn't like that. Not one bit. PTSD was common for soldiers. He was still plagued with nightmares after Ishval, though, it had been getting better since his marriage, his daughters birth, and since he started seeing a therapist. He had recorded the entire story of his life in the war into a journal, which he hid deep in the kitchen cabinets. Only his wife and Roy Mustang knew it existed, and neither had read it; Hughes had begged them not to. A hard and difficult road. PTSD was a large, ugly, shitty burden. And it made him angry that those poor kids had to bear it.

He was soon patched up, and Dr. Yvette finally let him go. "I suggest you try to work on your balance, Lieutenant Colonel," She lectured him. "It must have been your cushy office job that's made you rusty. The late General Grand bragged about how you where the most coordinated soldier in his regiment. So either he was exaggerating, you've gotten very rusty, or your lying about how you got that injury,"

A swell of pride gathered in Hughes' heart upon hearing that Grand had appreciated his skill. The man who saved his life on the battlefield, even if it was indirectly. He sent anonymous letters to Gran to thank him; he couldn't see him in person, as it made him think of the battlefield. He had only mustered up enough courage to thank the man personally a few months ago, and now, he was incredibly happy he had done so before the Iron Blood alchemist was murdered.

"I told you, I'm not lying," Hughes said, giving the doctor a bright smile, and a small hug. Yvette didn't hug back; he didn't expect her to, they where practically strangers to each other; but Hughes had his rumors about his "enduring lack of social boundaries," to make the hug look like a normal Hughes thing. The annoying old doctor, who was still nagging him about his alibi, despite it not relatively being any part of her business, didn't need to know that he could've cried tears of joy if he had been younger and less hardened over the knowledge of Basque Grand that she had supplied him.

"Crazy man," Dr. Yvette muttered under her breath as Hughes walked away. She was definitely going to make a note that he may have been lying about his injury.

* * *

Winry was going to murder him, Al could be sure of that. It wasn't like she could just jump out the window herself with her foot the way it was, and having her wound re-opened was not a pleasant experience. But she still wanted to go look for Edward, and Al had just left her in the room, despite her requesting that he help her out the window as well. But Al did has his reasons for leaving her behind; she had already nearly froze herself to death only a day earlier when she walked all the way from the Tucker estate to Eastern Command in the rain; he wouldn't let her risk it again.

She was probably planning to put him in his grave anyways, though.

The rain was pelting hard. Al could hear the loud echoes of the drops vibrate within and around his metal body. Rain was already cold; Al held knowledge of this, though he had forgotten it's feeling; and to think it was pouring down so hard and so fast… Edward would be soaked to the bone. He would also freeze.

Al ran throughout the streets, unsure as to where Ed would go, and he had no destination in mind. He knew it would be impossible to miss seeing his brother, for the little boy stood out in a crowd, so he didn't bother keeping focus on his surroundings. Instead, he let go of the binds clamping his shattered heart together, and morned for Nina inside his mind, while his body continued it's movements. His song of pain never had sound, it seemed. A silent and tragic tune, that made eyes shed tears and hearts break in two, despite no one knowing why they where devastated when they could here nothing, and did not know of the tune playing with no sound.

Alphonse had to find his brother! Before he froze to death in the rain! Before he was found by the State Alchemist killer and murdered! Before Ed did something to himself that he promised Al he would never do again.

The blade and the blood never left his mind.

No, his big brother would not. His beautiful, strong, big brother, who he loved with all his heart, and would go to the ends of the earth to protect. His Edward; the boy who was reckless, and silly, and had the aesthetic of shit. Who was protective, and brave, and would always do his best to keep Alphonse and Winry safe. To carry their guilt. He suffered a million hells for them and he was willing to suffer a million more; whatever it took to achieve their goal. Who put on a smile and a brave face, and a demeanor of stubbornness, whenever he was drowned by pain.

But Alphonse had always thought that Edward had the most terrible of poker faces.

"He won't do it!" Alphonse said to himself, his voice cracking, as if he had been crying. "He promised me he wouldn't!"

He won't do it. He won't do it. He won't do it. He won't do it.

"Ed, please!" Al wailed. "You can't do it! I need you!"

It was then that Al spotted a small figure with gold hair and a red, oversized jacket.

"Brother!" Alphonse called out.

Ed froze in his place. Then he took off in a run.

Alphonse chased his brother, knowing he would catch up. He couldn't tire or run out of energy to run like Ed would, and his strides where longer, and he himself was faster.

"Big brother! Wait!" Al shouted, catching up to the older boy. The moment he could, he wrapped his arms around Edward, holding him in a tight grip, keeping the little boy from running away again.

"Let go!" Ed screamed, as he kicked and cried.

"Not gonna happen!" Al snapped. "Brother you have to go inside, your gonna freeze to death!"

"I hurt him, Alphonse!" Ed cried out. "I can't go there, I hurt him!"

"The Lieutenant Colonel's worried about you!" Alphonse argued back.

"He hates me! He hates me!" Ed wailed. "He was good to us and I hurt him! I hurt everyone! You, Winry, Hughes, — Everyone! He hates me! He hates me! I hate me!"

Alphonse simply squeezed harder. He knew that his hugs where uncomfortable; physically painful, even. But he couldn't let his brother go. "Ed stop!" Al cried. "Ed, please! Don't do it again! I need you!"

Ed stopped struggling, hanging limply in Alphonse's arms, like a rag doll. "I won't do it again, I promis," He breathed, his voice quiet and sad. Never again. Never will I hurt my brother like that again.

"Is he okay?" Ed asked, quietly. "Is Lieutenant Colonel Hughes okay?"

"He's fine," Alphonse assured his brother. "He wanted to go look for you, but the Colonel forced him to go see Dr. Yvette,"

"Alright, that's good," Ed murmured. Dr. Yvette was good at her work. Hughes would be fine. "And Winry?"

"I left her at headquarters," Al laughed. "She's probably going to kill me for that!"

Ed smiled slightly. "Al, why do you think you need me? You really don't. You'd be better—"

"Finish that sentence and I'll knock you out," Alphonse said firmly, devastated. "I need you, brother. I really do. And I don't care if you believe me or not. I know I'm telling the truth. And if you don't believe me, then you better not fucking show it!"

Ed sighed, defeated. "Al, I might have broke my automail. With a rock,"

"Is it bad?"

Ed rolled up his sleeve, revealing the damage, and the fact that there was hardly any automail left. Alphonse sighed, exasperated. "Ed, you've got to take better care of yourself!"

"I know," Ed muttered.

"You remember your promis, big brother?"

"Yeah," Ed hummed. He would never forget the promis he made. It would constantly sit in his brain, and he would listen to this.

"Can you say it?" Al asked. "You remember things better when you say them,"

"I promis that I will live for you, and for Winry, not die for you. I will live on, and I won't throw my life away,"

"Because…"

"Because, if I die, it would hurt you more than your missing body. I am important to you. And I will not leave you here alone for any reason,"

Al could've smiled, his happy coming back to him. "Good job brother,"

Ed nodded. "Lets get back,"

* * *

Edward wasn't what one would consider a huggy person. In fact, if he could avoid being touched, he would usually be plenty happy. However, Hughes wrapping him into a hug, despite the injured arm, wrapped up in a sling, holding his little boy close to him so that Edward wouldn't leave again, made Edward thankful. And he hugged the young father back.

In normal situations, Ed didn't like being touched. In situation's like these, a hug from a man who treated Edward like his own son was something Ed needed more than anything in the world.

* * *

Alphonse was right about Winry. The first thing she did when he came back was throw her wheelchair at him, squeezing her arms around the heavy contraption hard, and letting it fly. Al wasn't even sure how that was even somewhat possible.

"Al you dumbass!" Winry snapped. "I told you not to leave me behind!"

"Sorry Winry," Al moaned from his place on the floor, with the chair weighing on his body.

Winry went up to Ed and gave him a hug. "Don't do that again," She demanded.

"Yeah, yeah, I won't," Ed sighed, using his usual crabby tone of voice, but hugging her back anyways.

"Ed, roll up your right sleeve," Winry suddenly said.

Fearful of her wrath, he did what she said.

"EDWARD WHAT THE HELL!" Winry screeched. "My Granny put hard work in to this! Do you know how long its gonna take to replace it! At least tell me you kept track of the parts,"

"Well…" Ed muttered, scratching the back of his head.

Winry turned to the nearest wall and banged her head on it a couple of times.

"Listen, Ed, I know you where upset, but please don't take it out on your automail. Or any part of yourself, for that matter," Winry demanded.

Ed smiled nervously. "Don't worry. I'll take better care of myself next time. Besides, Al already gave me the lecture,"

* * *

"You saw Scar?" Mustang questioned Edward, sounding surprised, and slightly worried.

The small teen just rolled his eyes, his body sinking deeper into the couch, if that was even possible. It looked as if he was trying to morph into the thing; simply squeeze into the cushions until he disappeared within them.

Ed didn't really feel like recounting his run-in with the mass murderer, but unfortunately for him, there wasn't much that could be done. Mustang was going to question him, and Ed could either stubbornly refuse to talk, and be stuck at Eastern Command for hours, or he could give the damn Colonel what he wanted, and walk out of the office in hopefully less than ten minutes.

"Is there any detail about Scar that would add to Winry's description of him?" Mustang asked, pulling out a notepad and a pencil.

"He took his sunglasses off at some point," Ed thought back, trying to remember the mans eye color; he hadn't exactly been paying attention. Though, he dug into his memory, to the brief second Scar's eyes had been hoping before he slipped the glasses back on. The majority of what Ed could remember where the whites of his eyes. Though, he did get a small glimpse of the iris. It was a dark color, but a familiar one.

Right. His eyes where red.

Well, that certainly explained a lot.

"He's Ishvallan," Ed stated, sighing slightly.

The veterans of the room seemed to shiver, despite the room's temperature never changing.

"That explains why he's targeting State Alchemist," Mustang hummed, his smug expression of youthful confidence he normally wore melting off his face, transforming into the face of someone older, tired, and who'd seen the worst the world had to offer.

He didn't need to explain. Everyone in the room all knew, to a certain extent. The younger, less experienced members of the military remembered the incident that sparked a nine-year war between two cultures, when an Amestrian soldier accidentally shot and killed an Ishvallen child. Everyone knew that the Ishvallens; resilient people, with brown skin, white hair, and crimson eyes. Everyone knew that the soldiers of Ishval could not be taken down with manpower alone. Everyone knew that the military sent the State Alchemist into the battlefield to eliminate the issue, and secure Amestris a victory.

But that was as far as public information went. Those that knew better; the war veterans, and their closest allies; knew that the events that took place between the Ishvallens and the State Alchemist wasn't just a simple war.

It was genocide.

"In some way, his vengeance would be justified," Mustang laughed, wryly, with little humor.

"Well, that's bullshit," Ed said quietly. "He's targeting people who weren't even a part of the war,"

"Seems he doesn't care which State Alchemist is guilty and which is innocent," Winry spat, gritting her teeth. Scar would've killed Edward had he known the boy was the State Alchemist he was looking for. "And apparently even a child deserves death, even though they weren't even ten during the Civil War!"

Al placed a hand on Winry's shoulder to calm her down. She was holding a similar anger to Scar that she had to the people of Youswell when they where thrown out. But this time, it was a matter of life and death. And while Edward had tried to excuse the dirt-poor, military hating miners for throwing them out, he wasn't going to excuse Scar.

There was no excuse for murder.

"Whatever the case may be," Mustang spoke again, "We're not going to let ourselves become victims of his 'cause'. We will be on careful, on high alert, and, if we have to, we will kill the man before he has a chance to kill us. Understood?"

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry all visibly flinched when every soldier in the room accepted that order.

"Well, on that lovely note," Hughes muttered, "What are you kids planning to do now?"

"We'd probably would have head towards one of the research labs in the West, but someone had to go and bust up his automail," Winry quipped, glaring daggers at Edward.

"Don't look at me like that!" Ed demanded. "We owe Granny a visit, anyways. Kill two birds in one stone, right?"

Winry simply continued to glare at her friend, unamused with his weak excuse. Though, she did have to admit, Ed was right about them owing Granny a visit. They hadn't seen her since… December, maybe? In other words, it had been around at least eight months since they saw her last. And while Winry had tried to call the woman at least once a week, she'd been forgetting to lately, with everything that had happened during the summer. The last time she had spoken with the old woman across the phone was before they had gone to Lior. Winry had bragged about how they finally found a solid lead, and that they might be coming home soon, with their bodies finally fixed. Winry hadn't contacted her since then. Mid July to late August.

Granny was going to have their heads…

"It'll be nice to finally take a trip home," Alphonse said brightly. "And Granny shouldn't be too worried about us. You call her every week, Winry,"

"About that…" The girl started to confess.

"How long?" Al groaned.

"Before Lior," Winry replied, meekly.

Al let out a long sigh. "She's gonna kick our asses. Especially yours, Ed,"

Edward rolled his coat sleeve up, looking at the loose sticks that where once his automail arm. He had beaten it up, broke it apart, with a rock. Because he panicked. Because life for the Elric crew got shitty. Shittier than normal, anyways. But his promis to Alphonse, to live for them, not die for them, was not the only promis he made. No, he promised he would make things right, and he had enough people with him to push him along the way. He had Alphonse and Winry. He had Granny back at home. He had Catherine, who always stayed by Winry's side, no matter the circumstance. He had Mustang and his team, who he kinda sorta did appreciate, even though he would never admit it. He had Riza Hawkeye, who looked out for their safety, health, and emotional well-being the same way a mother would for her kids. And they had Hughes, who practically adopted them, despite the small Elric Crew being a group of broken, messed-up children, who where far from perfect.

Yep, life was pretty shitty. And sure, people where shitty too. But Ed wasn't ready to give up on it all yet. Not when he had all these people waiting for him to achieve his goal.

Ed gave his little brother a smile. "My ass has been kicked so many times, I now have buns of steal! The old fart's gonna stub her toe on it!"

Winry once again threw her wheelchair, this time at the elder Elric brother, for daring to insult her grandmother like that.

* * *

 **And that is it! The last chapter before the shit begins it's going down.**

 **Not like it hadn't already, but you know what I mean. We'll finally meet Dr. Marco, and everything will slowly turn to shit. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited! Soon I'll be tackling a a re-write of my favorite plot with my favorite characters at it's center. Did I mention that I love Ed, Al, and Winry more than life it's self?**

 **Welp, read and review please. I love you all, and wouldn't mind the feedback, or just stating what you like and dislike about the story in general, I will be happy. See you all soon!**

 **~MotherUniverse signing out!**


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